Are you supposed to pencil sketch before you paint on the canvas?

I accidentally did. %26amp; I've found that what is easily won by pencil, all that detail, is more difficult to paint.





Layering the colors helps, the use of light and shadow. The use of a tiny brush.





Any painting tips you have would be great. Thanks.Are you supposed to pencil sketch before you paint on the canvas?
I tend to do very detailed painting, but I don't ever do a detailed drawing underneath. It seems like too much work only to cover it up completely. If you like the control of starting with a fine drawing, try ';drawing'; your underpainting with a small brush with black and white paint only.





This technique is called grisaille, and you can build up detail more easily than if you use full color. (See link below for examples.) After your grisaille is complete, you can glaze color over it. This is a traditional way of oil painting. You can do it with acrylics too if you use a lot of medium to make the paint transparent.