Bouguereau is said to have completed a painting from conception to the last brush stroke in only 8 days.
I have long held a theory that states:
Success as an Artist equals Time at the Easel.
I think this is especially true for portrait artists as what we do is quite a bit more exacting than many other artistic fields.
Today, I underpaint an average head and shoulders portrait in between 6 to 9 hours. Three years ago, that number was more than 20 hours for the same work. To me, that reduction is due to "time at easel" - by myself, in classes, on commissions, etc.
The more time we put in at the easel, the more successful we become at making the difficult translation from eye to hand. I mean success in terms of our ability to render what we see, not our overall success in the art marketplace - though one hopes that there is some spillover certainly.
Our families are usually not thrilled by this theory...long hours, very hard work.
An oil portrait for me now takes between 3-5 weeks depending on its complexity. Someday, I would like to be able to approach eight days, but I am not holding my breath.
So, how long does it take you to paint a portrait from start to finish? Do some math. Does that effect your plan to make your living at portraiture?
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