Great topic. I'm going to "punch the clock" for the painting I'm working on now, a portrait of my husband. The preliminary drawing took 2 hours (attached).
What I find is that it's best if I put it down after the first two hours, then sleep on it, and when I come back, I can clearly see any errors, weaknesses, etc.
Next I'll do a 2-3 hour oil color study, from life. (Two sittings.)
Anyway, one of the things I recognize about my process is that the time is not only consumed at the easel, but also the important time is spent IGNORING the piece so I can look at it with fresh eyes and scrape down or repaint where necessary, and it IS generally necessary to repaint passages, no matter how much time I've spent with the preparations.
Bottom line, it's good that I enjoy time at the easel
