Getting my feel around Blender and it isn't as difficult as it initially looks but this 'painting directly on the model' feature has totally confused me.

I know the prereqs for 3D painting are having UV unwrapped the model first (I use smart unwrap to make it sloppy but easy without concerning myself over seams just yet) in Edit Mode but after de-selecting my unwrapped object (with an open viewport for Front, UVMap, and Buttons) and then going to Texture Paint mode, my unwrapped map disappears, my object turns into one solid color with no shape other than its basic outline and although I have the brush cursor available, it will not allow me to actually use it.

What am I doing wrong?

BTW, I have gotten this to work before but how I did it then and what I'm doing wrong now is what is baffling me. 

You need to create a texture image to paint on.  In the UV screen click on 'image' then select 'New'.  A pop up box will open where you can give the image a name and size.

 Ok, cool. Thanks! Rethinking this I think that's what I did differently, I didn't start a new texture image.

 Remember also that the image has to be saved before it works properly. I generally have a dummy image saved that I use to start things off as the one created always defaults to black. Make sure you save as you go along as any changes are only held in memory until you do.

 Thanks for the info, Touchwood.

So 'New Image', title it, then go back into the menu and 'Save Image' and from there it should go as long as I've unwrapped properly. =)