Brushwork is the way a painter puts paint on a picture with a brush — the marks you can see, the direction, how thick or thin, how fast or careful. Art teachers and writers talk about someone’s brushwork the way music people talk about someone’s touch on a piano. Some painters leave wild, easy-to-see strokes; others hide every mark so the surface looks smooth. It is a specialist word, mostly for art. Though actually, it is not “work with a brush” in the housework sense. Nobody says brushwork for painting a wall at home.