Total time for me is 5 - 10 hours. I prefer to do it in one or two sittings though.
You should go back and forth between quick sketches meant to keep your hand and eye limber and longer pieces. As far as "how long for the finished pieces?" that's up to you. I've been working on the piece for TA for a couple of weeks now, for a couple hours a day. I initially estimated that it would be 10 hours of work, but I forgot how anal I can get (for me.) It's probably going to end up being closer to 20 hours, but I'm not good at keeping track of my time. But I have a lot of other things going on, so I can never spend more than a couple hours a day on one piece. I use that to my advantage, though.
Varies I suppose. usually it's 4-6 weeks for me for the work I've requested, but all the artists I've dealt with though have lots of other projects.
That's a good idea PMD; hadn't given much thought to going back to sketches on and off; but it seems logical enough. It's hard for me to figure out what direction to move in half the time hehe.
I'm definitely moving too fast then... my few 'finished' works have been 3-4 hours total. Maybe I should try just doing a couple hours a day instead of all at once; right now I just sit down and don't stop till I'm just about finished; I may come back and finish the next day; but that's usually it.
Thanks for the help everyone; sorry for asking such odd questions.
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That's a good idea PMD; hadn't given much thought to going back to sketches on and off; but it seems logical enough. It's hard for me to figure out what direction to move in half the time hehe.
I'm definitely moving too fast then... my few 'finished' works have been 3-4 hours total. Maybe I should try just doing a couple hours a day instead of all at once; right now I just sit down and don't stop till I'm just about finished; I may come back and finish the next day; but that's usually it.
Thanks for the help everyone; sorry for asking such odd questions.
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It's not by any means an odd question.
I find that going to sleep and returning to the work gives me fresh vision that I wouldn't ordinarily have if I just tried to do a whole piece in one sitting.
It's a good thing that TA has 30 people doing art for him at all times. He's so very patient because of that! 
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Varies I suppose. usually it's 4-6 weeks for me for the work I've requested, but all the artists I've dealt with though have lots of other projects.
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Same here. At least the regular updates keep you salivating for the final piece.
I am slow.
usually I will make a bunch of thumbnails. I have no idea how long that takes but lets say 30 min.
then I pencil . That takes about 2 hours to get something rough. Another hour of tweeking to get a good pencil. then probably an hour to ink. colors: that take me a long time tonight I worked 2 hours on it and got just a bit of the background done. I would say 4 to 8 hours for the colors. (and even more sometimes)
sooo total maybe 12 hours of work. Problem is I only do one hour here one hour there I rarely have long strech of time to draw. so in the end it takes a long time between the time I tel someone "I am doing yours" and the time the project is finished.
When I say I am slow it is in part also because when ever I draw lately I always give myself a challenge. (For example on the latest on it was to do a complete background.) This is to try and improve with each one. Another thing that can increase the time is the times where I get to a point and decide that that is not it. and start over again. (now that can increase the total time!)
I am not sure it answers your question. I dont know how long it "should " take . I just know this is how long it takes me.
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I know there's not really a "should"; I guess its just a matter of getting my heart to realize that I don't have to be done right away. Its the same way in alot of things... the brain *knows* that X is true in a factual sense; but you don't *feel* it for some reason. <x,x>
Yeah it depends really. Some of my commissions have taken a few days REALLY REALLY fast turn around, some take longer, heck I'm still waiting on one from like February... *sigh*
For me personally I'd RATHER the artist take time and spend a couple weeks doing/working on it. If they knock it out in a few hours, it just makes me feel like they could've done a better job on it if they took a lot longer. But sometimes in a few hours you get this outstanding piece that just makes you go WOW. Really depends.
In other words, take as long as YOU feel you need to in order to a) satisfy yourself and b) satisfy the customer. If you whip out something in a few hours that you think is great and the customer is happy with, then more power to ya!
My drawings take varying amounts of time to finish. I have done sketches in a few hours where some take a while. Hell I have one pic of Penumbra-Edge I have been working on for three weeks and one of Radey, which is actually version two since I didn't like the first one, for about two. And that is just pencils since coloring any of my stuff scares me since I think I might mess it up.
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I try to do a piece a week.
Usually, it starts out with an idea that bounces around in my skull for a couple of days. Once I get a strong feel for what I want and have hammered out much of the concept, I'll sit down to work. In general, I start with my ideas on monday... plan the stages throught the week... and then do the art on the weekend. By the following monday, I'm ready to tackle the next image.
Because my mental image is usually well-formed, I break the work into 1 or 2 steps as needed and divide the work into 'chunks', depending on how much free time I have. For example, I might approach a piece thinking "Pencils today, inks tomorrow"... or in the case of 3D work, "model the character today, the environment tomorrow, and Photoshop fixes the hird day". Something like that.
If I complete a step I planned and end up with extra time, I'll very rarely start the next step until the time I planned... meaning, if I'm fast enough to get through a step, I get to play COH =)
I usually try to get some concept (pencil, ink, color, etc.) done a day. Keeps the improvement process going.
An unusual question that I know will get a huge variety of answers... but I'm curious - for a good finished piece of art; including color and shading; how long on average should it be taking?
several hours? Days? Months?
I'm wondering because I'm realizing something in my own work - even though I'm trying not to; I'm still rushing it. I feel like I "have" to get done right away even when I'm not on a deadline of any sort whatsoever. So to help my psychology; what should I be aiming for? Finished work every day? Every other day? every 2 weeks? month?
Just curious what you all think.