{"id":7074,"date":"2009-06-15T07:28:03","date_gmt":"2009-06-15T15:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/?p=3939"},"modified":"2009-06-15T07:28:03","modified_gmt":"2009-06-15T15:28:03","slug":"taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/","title":{"rendered":"TAKING THE LEAP \u2013 Being a Full-Time Artist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"al-mcwhite-painting\"<\/a>\u201cTake the first step in faith.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to see the whole staircase, you just have to take the first step<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0Dr. Martin Luther King<\/p>\n

Many people are unhappily working at jobs because they don\u2019t have faith in their ability to earn a living as a full time artist, or because they just aren\u2019t sure where to start.\u00a0 Fear stops them from taking the leap to doing what they love.<\/p>\n

I say, just get started, take the first step, and the rest will follow.<\/p>\n

Most professions have a formula you can follow for success.\u00a0 You want to be a dentist?\u00a0 There\u2019s a tried and true formula, just as there is for being an accountant, and a salesperson, and a hairdresser.<\/p>\n

Being a professional artist is less defined, because there are many different paths to follow, and very few formulas.\u00a0\u00a0 But you can look at what other successful artists are doing, and adopt some of their strategies<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Al McWhite <\/a>is a South Carolina artist who worked at a clothing company for over eleven years.\u00a0 Even though he was the Art Director and working with his artwork daily, he wasn\u2019t fulfilled working for someone else.\u00a0\u00a0 He wanted to have the freedom to be completely in charge of his creations.<\/p>\n

In his own words, he said \u201cI wanted to write my own life story.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t do that unless I worked for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al\u2019s paintings take you on a vacation with playful images of fun surf and ocean culture scenes.\u00a0 He creates positive art depicting the lighter side of life, which is a reflection of his attitude.\u00a0 There were enough people that loved his art, that he knew he had a market for it.<\/p>\n

In December of 2006, Al took the leap and left his steady job and paycheck to go out on his own as a freelance artist.<\/p>\n

At the time, he said, he was scared because it was a huge risk, having a wife and three young children to support.<\/p>\n

But looking back, he says \u201cI wouldn\u2019t change a thing.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a lot of hard work, but it\u2019s worth it and I know I\u2019m doing the right thing<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, Al has built up a steady stream of income through sales of painting commissions, illustrations, prints, and licensing.\u00a0 He believes that having multiple avenues to sell his art has been vital to his success.<\/p>\n

Like most successful artists, Al believes that the following traits have helped him to make it work:<\/p>\n

1.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Be a disciplined self-starter<\/p>\n

2.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be willing to learn \u2013 don\u2019t assume you know everything<\/p>\n

3.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Meet deadlines and make your clients happy<\/p>\n

4.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be very professional (not flakey)<\/p>\n

5.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Educate yourself on business<\/p>\n

Al is now a father of four, and he creates new artwork every day.\u00a0 He said that when things get difficult, \u201cI laugh at everything and I don\u2019t take anything seriously<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 He says.<\/p>\n

Taking the leap means having belief in your abilities.<\/strong>\u00a0 You can believe in yourself and still have doubts, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The trick is, don\u2019t let your doubts or your fear stop you.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"spunk-head-shot\"<\/a>I want to see you live the life you dream of<\/a>!\u00a0 Take the leap, go for it, don’t let fear stop you!<\/p>\n

Spunk Brophy xxoo (Follow me on Twitter<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Sven Goran Eriksson<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

PLEASE, give us your comments <\/a>and thoughts on this post below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cTake the first step in faith.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to see the whole staircase, you just have to take the first step.\u201d \u00a0Dr. Martin Luther King Many people are unhappily working at jobs because they don\u2019t have faith in their ability to earn a living…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[67,558],"class_list":["post-7074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drews-tips","tag-al-mcwhite","tag-live-the-life-of-your-dreams"],"yoast_head":"\nTAKING THE LEAP \u2013 Being a Full-Time Artist - Drew Brophy - Surf Lifestyle Art<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maria Brophy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/\",\"name\":\"TAKING THE LEAP \u2013 Being a Full-Time Artist - Drew Brophy - Surf Lifestyle Art\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/al-mcwhite-painting-181x250.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-06-15T15:28:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-06-15T15:28:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47cc91dd4c83db310dcaa0f044bf2c00\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/al-mcwhite-painting.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/al-mcwhite-painting.jpg\",\"width\":290,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/\",\"name\":\"Drew Brophy - Surf Lifestyle Art\",\"description\":\"Surfer, Artist, Illustrator\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47cc91dd4c83db310dcaa0f044bf2c00\",\"name\":\"Maria Brophy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cc1fb2e257168ad0e987738d4bb2500?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cc1fb2e257168ad0e987738d4bb2500?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Maria Brophy\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/author\/maria\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TAKING THE LEAP \u2013 Being a Full-Time Artist - Drew Brophy - Surf Lifestyle Art","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Maria Brophy","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/","url":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/","name":"TAKING THE LEAP \u2013 Being a Full-Time Artist - Drew Brophy - Surf Lifestyle Art","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/al-mcwhite-painting-181x250.jpg","datePublished":"2009-06-15T15:28:03+00:00","dateModified":"2009-06-15T15:28:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47cc91dd4c83db310dcaa0f044bf2c00"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/taking-the-leap-al-mcwhite-and-being-a-full-time-artist\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/al-mcwhite-painting.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/al-mcwhite-painting.jpg","width":290,"height":400},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/","name":"Drew Brophy - Surf Lifestyle Art","description":"Surfer, Artist, Illustrator","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47cc91dd4c83db310dcaa0f044bf2c00","name":"Maria Brophy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cc1fb2e257168ad0e987738d4bb2500?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cc1fb2e257168ad0e987738d4bb2500?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Maria Brophy"},"url":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/author\/maria\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7074\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}