Slow or Fast
At what rate can you finish a piece? Do you see yourself as Slow or Fast? Consider artists that sit in commercial areas and are able to create brilliant portraits in minutes - are you this gifted or do you have to study each line, look at every contour and then take your time putting it down on paper?
Honestly, I'd probably be a "fast" painter if it wasn't for the fact that I like to paint over things. I usually finish a canvas, leave it for a few days, and come back to paint over the face, the background, things like that. I take polaroids of each version and refer back to them to see how much I'm improving, and the final product usually turns out pretty well with this technique. The greatest thing is that I can save the $15-$20 on bottles of gesso because I put so much paint on the canvas.
It isn't the neatest or most professional thing to do, but it absolutely works for me!
Amy
I am by no means fast, but I think it depends. my first oil painting teacher had us spend 2-3 weeks on each painting in order to get a completely finished work. My teacher now has us do one painting per class period. Sometimes we spread it out over two. Obviously, these ones don't look as finished, but I'm learning so much! It is a slightly different situation though, because the class I'm in now is head painting and the models are only there for so long. But I would have to say, that for me to completely finish a painting so that I feel good about it, I am slow. I only hope I can speed up a little with more experience.