painterly

painterly Definition

paint·erly (pānt′ər lē)

adjective

Now Rare of or characteristic of a painter
characterized by those qualities related to a painter's techniques in applying colors in masses, esp. with a thick, rough surface texture, as distinguished from linear qualities that emphasize outline and contour

painterly Related Forms

paint′·er·li·ness noun

painterly Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

abstraction: But spontaneous mark making is Bowen's strength and suggests a serious study of post-war painterly abstraction.
composition: His images locate moments of painterly composition or sculptural form in sites of absent labor.
style: David used Terragen renders for the basis of the final images, which are considerably reworked in a more painterly style.
quality: Painting the edges with looser strokes will add to the painterly qualities.
technique: The realism conveyed through these paintings does not refer simply to Meyer's painterly technique.
effect: He teaches the animator how to add painterly effects to their work, whether for video, TV, or the Web.

Modifying Another Word

very: I like the contradiction between the craft of working with metal, and the very painterly image which I aim to achieve on paper.
almost: His surfaces might be worked to display an almost painterly plane that suggests refracted light, with a remarkable range of color.

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