That is one of the most common and most elusive questions asked of carvers. I think the problem with answering that for me is that when I get started on a carving, I "get in the zone" (that may be cliche) and lose track of time and surroundings. I can sit down, start working, thinking "it's a couple hours til lunch time so I'll carve for an hour" then realize when I stop it has been four hours.
I used to go to a couple carving events a year, both a week long. One was a learning/teaching thi-ng the other was like camp, everyone just worked on what they wanted to while gathered in one of the meeting buildings at a 4-H camp. It was interesting that in a room with maybe 12-18 adults, maybe 1-2 hours could pass and no one would say anything because they were all so caught up in what they were doing.
So, the short answer to your question would be, maybe 6-12 hours, give or take.

@DotLewis I’ve spent 300 hours on one before. Obviously a bit larger though.

@AstralSmoke They can eat up some time. I've done some bigger work, although nothing too big to pick up and carry But my first love is miniature work. Either way, it proves that idiom, "Time flies when you're having fun.".

No, it is Basswood. Bass has about the same hardness as line but with less pronounced grain. Balsa is too soft to carve. It requires, quite literally, razor sharp blades to cut without crushing and it won't take detail like harder wood. The paint is just bottles acrylic craft paint and after colors art applied, I dry brush across the texture, usually with white to highlight.

@DotLewis Bass wood would have been my second guess. Do you prime to wood first or directly paint it with acrylic paint?

@AstralSmoke No primer on anything with "fur" texture added and the paint is kept light so as to not smooth out the texture. On untextured carvings, if paint is used, I still don't prime but the paint can be heavier.