There are artists who are capable of creating majestic oil paintings Alla Prima - that is, they are able to paint without use of an underpainting, by simply applying paint directly to canvas, in one thin (or thick) layer.
Which, to some, may seem like the single best (and most obvious) way to paint...but to me it's like a superpower I have not been blessed with. When I paint, I have to first apply a monochromatic underpainting that clearly shows how the darks and lights will work with or against each other to develop depth and dimension.
Then, after the underpainting is dry, I have to patiently build up the color I want each object or area of the painting to be. It takes a lot of time and patience, and it can be more frustrating for me than a 5-hook bra is to a teenage male of conventional sexual orientation.
The odd thing is, I don't execute a lot of thumbnails of what I want to paint - I usually have a very clear idea of what I want to put on canvas. Composition comes naturally to me - though I usually have a ton of reference pictures of the subject matter on hand to help.
Which doesn't make sense on many levels. If I can imagine what it is I want to portray, shouldn't I be able to simply paint it directly onto the canvas? Maybe it's just a matter of further study or practice. Maybe I just need to get another hundred or thousand hours of studious development of technique down.
Maybe I need to take up sculpture.
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