alla prima

American  

[ah-luh pree-muh] / ˈɑ lə ˈpri mə /

noun

Fine Arts.

1. a painting technique in which a canvas is completed in one session, often having a thickly applied impasto.

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alla prima British  

/ ˈɑːlɑː ˈpriːmə /

adjective

1. (of a painting) painted with a single layer of paint, in contrast to paintings built up layer by layer

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Etymology

Origin of alla prima

< Italian: literally, at the first

Example Sentences

It is painted all the way, and it invariably looks as though it was put on alla prima, without glazing or reworking.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the paint looks direct and uncluttered; it seems to have been done alla prima, wet into wet, in a few hours.

From Time Magazine Archive

They were imagined on the spot, alla prima.

From Time Magazine Archive

My first idea was to paint the picture alla prima; but in the nick of time it occurred to me that I should be very foolish to do so.

From In Paradise A Novel. Vol. I. by Heyse, Paul