How "speedy" is a speed paint?

#1

Hi Guys hope all is good. Just wondering if anybody can fill me in on how speedy a speed paint is?

I ask because i need some sense of a benchmark, so that i know how fast i need to be in a production environment. I would at least like to work towards the type of speed the pros operate at, guys like craig mullins, david levy and barionteri etc.

Im sure its relative to how complicated a piece is, like a character may not take as long as an environment etc. and if so then could somebody fill me in.

Looking forward to your response.

#2

I do believe that originally the concept of ‘speed painting’ meant under 60 minutes, but people often stretch it a bit. 90 min - 2 hours is common, I believe.

The goal is to be able to interpret and show your idea, and to make it understandable to the viewer. It’s not about creating a 100% realistic, fully worked picture (obviously), but just to get the general idea across… at least that’s how I think of it :slight_smile:
Take the time you need, but usually an hour is enough to generate a rough concept.

#3

Thanks for the input valdiorn and to me that makes alot of sense, because painting something in an hr is definitely ‘speedy’. I have seen other speed paintings where they say it was done in maybe 2-3 hrs and maybe a speed painting is all relative, but then if that were the case why not just call it a painting?

Either way thanks all the same.

#4

Speed painting doesnt necessasrily have anything to do with how much time you spend on a painting.
A painting is a speed painting if you didnt spend any times on detailing and just painted the overall idea on the canvas. You know, some paintings can take upto 100 hours… So, for instance, if u use 2-3 hours to display the idea of a painting u intend to spend 100 hours in, it’s fair to call it a speed painting, dont u think?

#5

To me, a speedpaint is a piece that takes only a short time compared to how much time the artist usually spends on a painting. If for example my paintings take me ten to twenty hours each, a speedpaint would be a fraction of that, perhaps one to two hours.

#6

Speedpaint is to brushes what sketch is to pencils. :arteest:

#7

These guys have traditional painting backgrounds in which you usually have to work fast since you are paying models by the hour. Many paintings are done in 3-6 hrs. I would recommend this approach along with a medium like acrylic that dries quickly. Painting on the computer tends to encourage guessiness since you have an undo button/eraser tool. It is also mostly centered around photographic reference which will hold back your understanding of proportions. I think if you studied painting in a traditional medium your digital work would speed up too.

#8

Drag-n - yeh you have a point and i think what your saying has also led to why im confused about the method.

In my novice experience i thought the term speed painting referred to a very definite time limit, and now as i am typing it i realise how ridiculous that sounds haha - but yeh u make a good point. Still, if you think about it, it is still relative to the skill of the artist right? I suppose thats where Maidith’s response has validity.

I mean what you can paint in 2-3 hours im sure would be a whole lot better then someone who is less experienced. So having said that maybe we should start setting a time range on it? maybe originally there was one all along but the more the term was used the more diluted and bloated the time span became. Who knows.

Hay Polywrangler thanks for the tips especially with the time range you mentioned. This helps give me an idea and ‘hope’ that i can produce quality work as quickly as they do, btw how did you come across this information as i have searched for it but couldnt find squat!

Ultimately though, and after some thought, i think Erilaz hit the nail on the head. Which is i suppose what Drag-n meant as well.

#9

I’m have no clue what I’m doing 100% of the time, I experiment until something cool happens, so a “speed painting” for me is as long as I can bare sitting in front of that piece of crap I’m scribbling around on the screen.

2-4 hours, probably.

#10

heheh fancy seeing you on here

anyways i take it as around 2 hours of painting in my definition, it’s an ability to get down a concept or feeling for an image in a set amount of time, not always to show others you skill but more as a benchmark for your own progress

not that i do them really, my forays into pure digital painting are rare

#11

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