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This does happen, even to experienced painters, and isn't always easy to predict, or to reverse engineer. Perhaps the most notorious venue for it is in bright-sun plein air work, which can yield an oil sketch that, when brought inside, looks like it was done in a cemetery at midnight.
I think that you'll be in good stead if you first ensure that your palette and easel are well lighted -- with the same light (or the same light quality), so that what you mix on the palette is what shows up on the canvas. Only then set up your model or still-life. If the light illuminating your easel and palette is compromising the lighting of the model or still-life, hang a black drape between that light source and your subject.
If you are starting with a white canvas, consider applying a turpsy tone to it at the outset, just to cut the whiteness a bit and reduce the glare and challenge the perception that everything is already so bright, you need to tone it down.
Cut a 3x5 card out of dark matboard and punch two 1/4-inch holes in it, about 2-1/2 inches apart (distance not critical). Hold the card (affectionately called "peepers") in such a position that you can see simultaneously an area on the object in nature and that same area on your paper or canvas. This may help you discern whether you're hitting the mark in terms of hue and value.
You'll have to experiment. Make a bold-ink note of the lighting you used on the piece that is disappointing you, and try different lighting next time.
Fuzzy, yes, but it's Art, not Science. Though the twains do often meet.
Cheers,
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