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Julianne,
There are lots of variables in this. I can only speak from my experience as a former portrait artist manager. His work was quite popular and we kept taking clients as they were ready to be scheduled. Right up front I told prospects that there was an 18+ month wait for delivery of the portrait. People were willing to wait. So, I think popularity and demand is a definite factor. A newer artist, of course, might not be able to get away with that. I think the higher the price, the more people expect to wait. Higher prices communicate "success" and people aren't surprised that there's quite a wait for a successful artist.
Portraits were completed according to the date the preparation was done and that was it. Once in a while we'd accept a "rush" job that wasn't according to the schedule.
I'm sure you'll get other very different feedback from others. But, I used our waiting period as a PR tool rather than a drawback...I never apologized for it. It was a measure of how much in demand he was.
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