Ngaire - so nice to see you here again. You could get a background done fast, just use a big brush. (Also - well, you know this already of course - squint at the subject a lot, paint the big shapes and planes first and get them accurate. It's easy to get distracted by detail when painting; squinting helps see the big shapes and values.)
Anyway, it doesn't matter how fast an artist paints, what's important is the final product. Personally, I usually paint way too fast and then I have to go back and correct my mistakes. It's surely a bad habit to paint fast. (I draw - charcoal, graphite, etc. - much more slowly than I paint, by the way, unless I am just goofing around.)
Mike - you wouldn't have lasted long in that getup if you had been here. We would have grabbed you as a model.
Alex - thanks again!
Marina - I'm taking that as a compliment.
Here's the painting again and I'm calling it done. (That yellow is Studio Products Gamboge, incidentally, a real powerhouse of a color.)