No, 3D work is more time consuming than drawing. With drawing, you\'re working with one plane of the picture/object. With 3D, you need to build the characters/objects like crafting clay (more with characters than objects). Though it is cool to see something you worked on for so long finally come out in 3D, it is something you would do to get a different artistic effect or animation. Maybe I\'m slow, but I can do a detailed drawing in an hour, inked and everything, compared to six hours doing a 3D model from scratch. There are programs like Poser with models and objects to use, but you don\'t get that \"style\" most 3D artists have when doing original work. You can tell artists apart from their drawing styles and tastes, same can be done in 3D.
I\'m guessing your friend uses Poser that you can download objects and textures for.