How Long Does It Take

Ponderment of the morning... People often ask me how long it takes me to complete a painting. There is, of course, a different answer to that question every time. There are times that I have been more than bit defensive about the speed in which I finish a painting. It's just what I do. It works for me. It might not work for anyone else. Depending on technique, there are artists who take years to finish a single work (Maxfield Parrish left many, many unfinished paintings simply because of the multitude of glazes he used and the time it took for each layer to dry) and others who can whip something pretty good up in minutes. The time it takes me from the moment I pick up the brush until the moment I apply that final brush stroke for one painting is truly only a fraction of the time that goes into the entire process. There is planning, preparation, and yes, decades of training and mastering of technique involved. How long it takes to create anything is immaterial. It's the finished product that matters, not how it was created or how long it took. So when you see a piece of art, or hear a moving piece of music, or read a book that you can't put down, don't ask the artist how long it took... it takes as long as it takes... instead, tell them how it makes you feel, why you like it, why it moves you.