# How long?



## TerryCurley (Jan 4, 2015)

How long does it take you to do an oil painting? I usually only take about a day or two at most. I was just watching a movie and the artist said he's taking a flat for a month to do a painting. A month! How can a painting take that long?

So how long does it take you? I don't mean the drying time I mean to paint it.


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## DLeeG (Oct 20, 2010)

The difference is in the details.


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## TerryCurley (Jan 4, 2015)

Yeah that makes sense.


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## DLeeG (Oct 20, 2010)

Patrick said:


> Most of my paintings take me about 4 or 5 hours.


I don't understand why you need to rush. Think about what you could do if you took your time. If you have the talent to get the smallest details, then take the time to do it. It can't be done in 4 or 5 hours.


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## TerryCurley (Jan 4, 2015)

Well I think it all depends on the subject matter. A seascape or landscape may not have any details to take time on, whereas a person on a horse or something like that would. Still when I heard 'a month' on that movie it blew my mind. I've done a lot of pictures in 4 or 5 hours, especially those wet on wet landscapes, but generally I need one or two days.


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## DLeeG (Oct 20, 2010)

Well as you have said, you are new to this.


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## DLeeG (Oct 20, 2010)

Landscapes and seascapes have a lot more minut details than can be found, much less captured in a few hours.


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## TerryCurley (Jan 4, 2015)

You're right I am new at this DleeG and I'm learning every day. Cheers.


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## DLeeG (Oct 20, 2010)

What did you learn from this thread?


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## DLeeG (Oct 20, 2010)

Patrick said:


> DLeeG I got 3 paintings posted 3 threads down. Go tell me your honest opinion, all of them took 4 to 5 hours with 4 kids interrupting me.


I've seen them. I honestly don't think as much of them as you seem to. The first holds promise. The second is missing a realism of details and misplaced shadows and highlights. If you are getting bored with a picture put it aside. It doesn't have to be finished.


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## Liz (Jan 10, 2015)

I don't paint in oil but I want to comment about the reply made that landscapes/seascapes have more detail and therefore take more time to paint. I don't agree, many of the "minute details" in a landscape can be captured in a few strokes and dabs of a paintbrush such as foliage for example. The same can't be said with a portrait or with other subjects that actually require quite a lot of brush work in order for the subject to take shape.

I can paint a landscape in acrylic in as little as half an hour whereas a pet portrait of the same size would take at least 2 hours.


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## DLeeG (Oct 20, 2010)

Apparently the levels of details that we will settle for are different.


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## TerryCurley (Jan 4, 2015)

*Panaramic view*

The further away the less detail the eye can see and the lighter or faded the colors are. That's how our eyes and brains work, so to put a lot of detail in a scene that is suppose to be a panoramic view (except for whatever is up close) is not at all realistic. Like Liz says a splash of color giving a hint is all it takes.

Yes we all do things a little different and thank goodness for that. It would sure be a boring world if we couldn't kabbitz about our differences.


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## Liz (Jan 10, 2015)

Art isn't defined by how much detail is in it or by how long it took to paint it. The original poster I think was just curious how long others spend on their paintings. 

Something that I haven't seen mentioned here or maybe I just missed it, but no one mentioned the size of the painting, size would certainly be a factor in how long it took to paint.


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## chanda95 (Apr 6, 2011)

Honestly - Not an oil painter mind you - but I think it's all in your style and where you are artistically and what your subject matter is and how detailed you want to go. 

My drawings take me anywhere from a couple of weeks to up to a couple of months. For me it depends on subject matter and if I am going to include a background or not. My issue is that I tend to focus too much on details so my work takes a lot longer. 

I have seen some absolutely stunning pieces of artwork that were very free form in feel and less detailed and only took a few hours to complete. I don't have it in me to be that type of an artist. I think if I was to take up painting I would never get anything done because I would constantly be trying to match up the details of everything down to a T..


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