I've never been able to clock the hours.  I rarely start and finish a painting without having to attend other works which need to be done, so time spent on one piece may blur into that spent on another during one session.  Neither is it possible for me to divorce time spent out walking or searching for birds or mammals in the field from the actual process of painting at the easel or drawing board.  But in order to answer such a question of how long, then I could say anything from a day or two for a small study, to several weeks for a medium to large piece, which may be spread over as much as one, two or more years. 

Researching a new project often consumes my time and energy to an almost obsessive degree, and it can be these early stages of exploration and composition which take up a large proportion of time.  I do enjoy working quickly and spontaneously, but it seems to be in my nature to strive for a realism or a lifelike quality.  Often, it seems the last ten percent of a painting takes about half of the overall time!

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