So much of the pleasure and success with any art or craft work depends on choosing the best batch size. The size depends on the item, the artist, and sometimes other factors like available space. If the batch is too small, the setup and cleanup time is disproportionate to the results. It hardly seems worth the work. And the artist may never really get warmed up, so the artwork itself may not reach the artist's potential at the time.
If the batch is too big, the artist "peaks out" before finishing and some of the resulting work isn't so good. Also the artist is tired of the work well before it's over. The result is not really wanting to do any more next time.
A good book for writers called A Writer's Time advised picking the length of a writing session carefully. If it's too short, you don't accomplish enough and just feel frustrated. If it's too long, you get tired and end up feeling depressed. Frustration or depression: take your choice! A session the best length for you, the individual writer, leaves you feeling satisfied and wanting to go again soon.
Similarly, for artists, a good batch size leaves you feeling satisfied and wanting to do more soon.
For me, eight acrylic paintings on 8x10" canvases is a perfect batch. By the time I've done something on the eighth one, the first ones are dry enough so I can add more to them. Out of eight, at least some will look good to me. And I have the space to dry them and later to varnish them.
I can forge two dozen iron hooks in a nice batch, but six cooking forks is about right. Two iron vessel sculptures is much better than one, three is ok, and four is about the limit. Two is pretty much ideal for iron bowls. There are times when I need to let the hot iron air cool. While it cools I can work on the other. I can do three, but it can start to cramp my spaces. Five is definitely too many. I only tried that once. I got way bogged down.
I used to paint Strathmore cards with gouache paints. The blank cards were packaged in sets of 20. That was a perfect batch. I often finished one batch and then did another right after.
When you start a new kind of artwork, there's no way to know the best size batch for you. You have to feel as you go. The work can bog down at either extreme. If the batch is too small, each piece is just too, too important and it's hard to take risks. If it's too large, you can get distracted and bogged down. Each step in the process can take too long because you have to do it with too many different works.
But this is a crucial factor. Just watching, paying attention is a big help. Be aware that you can change the batch size midstream. Start some new pieces. Or if the batch is too big, set some of the pieces aside to finish later.
And of course, it's an individual thing. Someone else may prefer to paint twenty 8x10" paintings at a time. Another artist may prefer to work on three at a time. Only you can know when you're really, really enjoying the work.
9:48:10 PM 
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