This method of painting is used to make paintings in a single application. This is an opaque painting technique used by the Impressionists in their early work, the Fauves and the Abstract Expressionists. Direct painting relies on more planning because artists must consider form and color simultaneously. Alla prima is a method of direct painting in a single paint layer usually on a white ground. Plein Air describes a direct technique of painting a landscape entirely out of doors.
Most painters use a combination of direct and indirect painting.
For example, a landscape painting may look better when a glaze is applied to certain areas, such as the sky. Imprimatura is the application of a wash or glaze of color that tones the canvas before beginning a painting. Artists' colors had evolved from thin, weakly pigmented fluids into luscious, dense pastes like Gamblin Artists Colors. Painting techniques changed, too. Painters used stiff brushes and palette knifes to created impasto.