A brushstroke is a single mark made by a paintbrush on a surface. When an artist paints, each movement of the brush leaves behind a stroke of color, and these individual strokes combine to create the finished picture.

You can often see brushstrokes clearly in paintings, especially in works by artists like Vincent van Gogh, whose thick, swirling strokes give his paintings energy and movement. Some artists use smooth, invisible brushstrokes that blend together seamlessly, while others use bold, visible strokes that add texture and personality to their work. Looking closely at a painting, you might notice how hundreds or thousands of individual brushstrokes work together: short dabs for flower petals, long sweeps for a sky, or careful lines for a face.

The word also describes an artist's technique or style. An art teacher might say a student has a confident brushstroke or a delicate brushstroke, meaning the way they handle the brush shows something about their approach to painting. Even in activities beyond painting, people sometimes use the phrase broad brushstrokes to mean dealing with something in general terms rather than fine details, like giving an overview of history in broad brushstrokes instead of memorizing every date.