Is it just me or is everyone producing work at some inhumanly rapid rate? It seems to take me flippin' ages to complete a drawing/painting and I want to get a general feel for how long it takes others to get their respective jobs done.

Obviously this is a tremendously relative question, hence the title of the thread, but the more ballpark figures I get in the feedback the better I can understand if I have the work rate of a rappid fish of some kind, or a snail that has gotten itself snagged on some brambles!....

Over to you good people! And muchos gracias in advance!

where are you seeing this work dom? do you mean the pro's or on the forum?

I guess it depends how much time you have, if you take part in the challenges you definitely get faster, you have to, and at first it's not polished work, but eventually it becomes better. I recommend the daily sketch challenge to speed up, it just happens naturally. 

It's not just the pro's Kaz. It seems that many of our fellow artists churn out work at a goodly rate of knots, so I am curious to know what the general feel is on how long it takes typically.

I am getting as involved as much as possible with the challenges. I recognise their value in providing ideas, feedback, encouragement and an environment reminiscant of my college days, wherein you could bounce off each other. (Not literally of course!) 

However, others seem to still have the time and/or workrate to keep filling their respective galleries and "Finished 2D Work" threads. All told I am baffled, so I am looking for some freedback on this.

Thanks for being the first to do so!

Domtopia:

I want to get a general feel for how long it takes others to get their respective jobs done.

8 hours 23 minutes and 57 seconds. 

Honestly I don't keep track (but probably should!) At a guess, the last one I completed (for the Rocketgirl challenge) took somewhere between 10 and 14 hours over a few days. (Or nights, actually. I don't sleep as much as I should.) That's probably a pretty typical time spent on a piece for me. Still sort of a long time for what it is, but a year ago, my typical time on a similar piece would probably have been about twice as long.

As Kaz says, doing the challenges regularly really increases your speed, as does just drawing and painting a lot.  For me, I've gotten comfortable with a fairly regular method of approaching an image, and prepare myself more with sketches before painting in earnest, and have a lot of shortcuts to make life simpler (using layers & adjustments & masks, the warp tool, etc.) -- these things have all combined to increase my working pace.

Another thing that helps me is working on a bunch of things simultaneously, so when I get bored or stuck with one thing, I can just open up something else. Less time noodling that way.

And listening to upbeat music!

Thanks for being the second Smolin! ..... 'preciate the sarcasm! Ha!

I think, all told, that is somewhat similar to how long I take too, 10 to 15 or so. The 'Tarra' painting I am doing has taken me around 8 hours so far. Like you (and I guess this is the case for many others) I find the time in segments here and there to get a few bits done at a time.

P.S. Does Rage Against the Machine qualify as "upbeat"? 

Domtopia:

Is it just me or is everyone producing work at some inhumanly rapid rate?

Yeah, sickening isn't it?

Truthfully, don't worry about it. Nearly every painting you see in magazines, tutorials, Youtube, etc. gives the impression that the artist is quick and confident. I'm sure many are but everyone is different. Professionals have their deadlines so they quickly learn to finish on time, whether it's five hours or five days. I normally spend between 5 - 20 hours on work, rarely more but that covers many different types of jobs. If, in an alternative universe, I was doing a cover for IFX I would want at least a week.

I just re-read Gurney's Imaginitive Realism book and he spends months on some paintings.

You will get faster with practise - eventually. I second Kazky's advice about the Daily Challenge, or any challenge. It's good to give yourself deadlines. Also, Smolin is absolutely correct, have several things on the go at once. It keeps you fresh on each one.

Domtopia:

P.S. Does Rage Against the Machine qualify as "upbeat"? 

No.

Thanks Joe.

Pity about Rage, but you can't please everyone!! Ha!

I am having a lot of fun with the challenges so I can see their value. The sorts of figures that are coming up are quite heartening I must say, because they represent the sort of time I take too. Usually when I get a commision I take about a week to do it, (I usually ask for that long) I was just a bit disconcerted by the rapidity I was perceiving. Maybe it was just me!!

Thank you very much for the feedback guys. Makes feel part of the team.