How Long an Original Painting Really Takes

This is the question that causes the most friction on a project, and almost always because it was asked too late rather than because the answer is bad.

So here is the honest version, stage by stage, including the parts that people do not expect.

Before anything is painted

Consultation and brief, then a written proposal, usually within a few days of talking. Then agreement and deposit, which is what actually secures the production slot.

Then the support itself. If a piece is a standard size I may have it. If it is scaled to your wall, and most of the good ones are, it is ordered and built, and that takes time before a brush touches anything.

The painting

This varies enormously by what the piece is, and I would rather quote you a real range per project than a fake average here.

What I will say is that a narrative figurative work and a heavily built material work take very different amounts of time for completely different reasons, and neither is faster in a way you can count on.

The two stages nobody plans for

Drying and curing. This is the one that catches designers out, and it is not negotiable. A heavily built surface needs real time before it can be varnished, handled, packed or shipped, and rushing it is how a piece arrives damaged or ages badly.

It is also the least visible stage. The piece looks finished. It is not finished. I have had more than one conversation where a client saw a progress photo and reasonably assumed we were done, and we had weeks left.

Then photography and documentation. Every piece is properly photographed before it leaves, and the certificate and provenance record are prepared. It is a small window and it is not optional.

Then delivery

Local delivery in the Greater Phoenix area is straightforward and I handle it personally where I can. Crating and freight for anything further adds real time and needs to be booked, not assumed.

In our summer I also pay attention to how something is transported, because a truck in July is its own environment.

What this means for your schedule

Bring art into the conversation at the same time you are specifying furniture, not after the furniture arrives. That single change removes almost every timeline problem I have ever seen on a project.

If you have a fixed installation date, tell me at the first conversation rather than the third. I would much rather decline a project I cannot do properly than take it and let you down in front of your client.

And if you are working backward from a date right now, send it to me and I will tell you straight away whether it is possible.

Warmly,

Dani