Alla prima (it. alla prima — "at the first moment") or wet-on-wet is oil or watercolour painting, which supposes creating a picture in one go, whereas traditional artist waits for each layer of paint to dry. Thus, the alla prima painting has only one layer. The artist works in quick, large strokes. This method of painting a picture was actively used by the impressionists, as well as artists of the realistic school to create sketches and studies for future works.
Most often, the technique is used to perform small format works. No more than eight colours are used in the palette.