08 Sep 2010 at 00:57 - 10
As an artist I think that's a load of bull. How does that opinion apply to elegant sketches using just a few strokes? There's a beauty in finishing something quickly and eloquently, too.
It's very easy to overkill a piece. Oftentimes the average person's idea of a 'finished' work is comparable to the average shitty fanfic you see with their Mary Sue protagonists. The common idea of a finished, 'flawless' painting is actually the weakest, most boring stuff ever.
There's also the case where, no matter how many days you spend working on a piece, if you're baed, you're baed, and you're not going to be able to compare to a more experienced artist no matter what [unless you serendipitously hit upon magical awesomeness, but that's not something you can depend on].
I'd just like to make the point that you can't quantify any individual factor of art; good art is the combination of a lot of factors and the moment you try to divide these factors up, you're violating the definition of [good] art.