Alla prima (also known as direct painting or premier coup painting) comes from the Italian meaning 'first time'. It is a method of painting in which the artist applies each stroke of paint to the entire canvas with the intention of letting it stand in the picture as part of the final statement, rather than traditional building of the image with several layers of paint.

Direct methods have been used since the ancient times and the work done during the earliest periods in most cultures is single-layer direct painting. During the sixteenth century, one of the great old masters of this using this style was Peter Paul Rubens, though in that era it was primarily used as a means of sketching rather than as a finished piece of work. Later, we see it again in the works of Frans Hals.

The Impressionists are largely associated for bringing the "alla prima painting" into fashion. The father of this movement has been attributed to Edouard Manet. He set down an area of color to achieve its final appearance, as opposed to the traditional manner of building up the surface through thin glazes of different colors. This technique linked shape, color and tone in a single action. As a result, rather than seeking to describe every detail of a figure or an object, Manet left it to the viewer to "read in" the detail from his or her experience of the natural.

From a technical point of view the procedure is often effectively kept quite simple.

1. On a clean canvas, the general location of large masses can be put in lightly with pencil or charcoal.

2. The palette is set with a complete range of the colors to be used during the sitting, the colors usually being placed near the outer edge of the palette. The palette cup is fastened to the edge of the palette, and a small amount of painting medium is put into it.

3. The colors are thinned on the palette. Colors may be intermixed, although most writers suggest that the mixtures should be kept as simple as possible--that is, they should consist of no more than two or three colors.

4. The painter starts with broad, general strokes of thin paint using brushes, palette knives, rags, sponges, or any other instruments. Unsuccessful passages may be removed by scraping them off with the palette knife. Usually, the darks are painted in first gradually working up to the more opaque lights but, of course, this is a highly personal matter.

5. The key to this technique is to keep the colors clean. Use accurate and decisive strokes to avoid a muddy mess.

6. For oil painters, poppy oil colors are frequently recommended for use with this technique but there are limitless variations on the style and with the availability of fast-drying acrylic paints, the possibilities are endless.