The Myth that Art takes a Short amount of time

Actually they really need to remove that dangerous misinformation that the time of the art creation is the Only thing to factor in its creation.

It takes 4-20 hours, for masters 100s of hours. If you include the 90% reference and previous versions.


Saying 10 years of mastery doesnt help anyone – the employer or the artist because it is a measurement that cannot be priced. What you can price and improve on is the efficiency of making a work If you look at the Workflow of Piccaso and many modern artists the research and experimental activity goes into the 20-30 minutes to make a piece of art.

In a Taylorism (see wikipedia) analysis of the Time and Motion of an Artist, 90-80% is experimentation and version creation. Thats why if you go by these metrics:
1) Accumilation
2) System Alerts for more material 
3) Following your favorite influences 
4) Organization sources, influences, works, experiments and various other activities
5) As well as keep many Creative Techniques and fundamentals handy in your workspace
will improve the Cycle by which you improve on your craft.
The last 10-20% may be 2-4 hours if you count assembling the reference material and getting the workspace in order (including the virtual workspace).

In our own company I count workflow in my Time and motion analysis. I look at how people arrange their files and how they search the web for reference and influences. As well as how they organize their files and naming conventions. All these contribute because every time someone has to remake a version they repeat from step 1. It doesnt take simple hard work: it takes strategic preparation and making all the tools accessible and constantly improving workflow along with technique. Even going as far as note taking every little minor improvement.

If you follow great artists in Deviant arts some of them put their time to make the art. That doesnt count their research and planning. Its from the sources below I read about the studies of various great thinkers and artists in their methodology of preparation. Note that amplifying the appearance of greatness and improvisation helps their presitige to some people, but for me, the genius of their workflow (which is easier to copy and improve on) is the real genius and understandably their greatest secret.

If people discovered how Great Artists worked they fail to appreciate the thinking that goes into it.

See books
Talent is Overrated, by Colvin
Creative and Problem Solving, by Rickards
Play, by Brown

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