The Lady of Shalott (after Waterhouse) by Mike Rome

You have a fantastic gallery Mike. I think you have captured her despair very well, beautifully done.

Thanks Fiona, too kind.

I quite agree with you that the amount of detail on some of the old masters is astonishing. I sometimes think we want our paintings finished too quickly and are not prepared to put the hours and concentrated effort before we say finished. I suspect that even the impressionists and modernist painters put far more into it that we do and that what looks like a simplified scene is far from it in the execution thereof. One thing viewers like to know is the size of a painting. I'd like to know how long the artist took to paint it. That would give me an idea of time vs size and complexity in what I see. Cheers [email protected]

Yes Crispian, it would be very interesting to have an idea of the time taken by the Masters. Time spent v selling price is always a difficult commercial decision, but if selling is not the aim, then I suppose hours spent on creating the finished work shouldn't be an issue. Most of my pieces take around 20-30 hours, any more and I would out-price my target market. I only paint part-time and not for a living so would rather not sell than reduce my price below what I feel is equivalent to a realistic hourly rate. I am currently working on a piece that has already taken 40 hours and which will probably take another 20. There's no way I , as an unknown, will be able to sell it and make a profit, even based on my very modest hourly rate. Thanks for your feedback.