Drawing Monet in coloured pencils

One my favourite occupations used to be drawing oil paintings by past masters - in coloured pencil.  

Morning on the Seine early in morning light - a copy of Monet's work in coloured pencils

copyright Katherine Tyrrell

One such was "Morning on the Seine" by Claude Monet - in a different colourway - which I drew some years ago. It's prompted me to think I should do more. I know I always learned a huge amount each and every time I copied a painting by an old Master.  

I think the last time this drawing was posted on this blog was back in 2013!

However, for those contemplating the benefits of copying paintings, it's VERY important to remember there's a lot of difference between 

• copying somebody who's out of copyright (like Monet) and 
• copying an image by an artist or photographer whose work is covered by copyright 
• see Copyright Infringement and "Fair Use" - Basics for Art and Artists

Morning on the Seine by Claude Monet

Monet's "Mornings on the Seine" is a series of 21 canvases painted in 1896 and 1897.

Monet often painted the River Seine and its river banks, near his home in Giverny, His aim was to capture the fleeting effects of dawn light on the River Seine n France - and create another series of paintings!

• He painted the same scene at different stages of sunrise and in a variety of weather conditions.
• He often painted from his specially equipped boat which he used as a floating studio. 
• Working from before dawn his aim was to record the subtle changes in color and atmosphere as the sun rose
• Monet often painted emphasising misty, blue, green, pink and purple tones.

Having patiently scouted out views along the river, Monet then painted the pictures from a boat that he had converted into a floating studio. For an extended period he rose by dawn in order to paint the changing effects of light as the sun came up. He then lined up the canvases on easels in his studio to complete them together as a series. Fifteen were shown at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1898. Metropolitan Museum of Art

You can see some of the paintings below. They're all called Morning on the Seine near Giverny 

• Metropolitan Museum of Art  (New York, USA)
• White House Historical Association (Washington DC) - a gift to the White House in memory of John F Kennedy
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston MA)
• North Carolina Art Museum (North Carolina) 
• The National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo, Japan - not currently on display)

So how much is the Duty on Art again?

Royal Mail introduced its new "Postal Delivery Duties Paid" service today for those wanting to send art to buyers in the USA

There's just one problem. It doesn't tell you what the duty will be until you've paid the postage! 

So how does the artist add any duty payable into the invoice he or she sends to the artist - given artists want paying before they ship?

I posted this comment on the Royal Mail Facebook Page

WHY are you only telling people what the duty is AFTER they have paid the postage.
For people to make an informed decision about whether or not to send a package they need to know ALL THE COSTS before they pay anything.
What provision have you made for people wanting their money back if they decide not to send after finding out about the cost of the duty?
HOW do you ensure that people are using the correct tariff code so they can continue to enjoy EXEMPTION from Duty by using eg the correct code for sending original fine art - as per the Harmonised Tariff Schedule agreements?

There's NO SCOPE to 

• identify what your package is about and to.......
• identify the correct tariff COMMODITY CODE - remembering of course that 
• IN THEORY some items - like original fine art paintings, drawings and prints are EXEMPT from paying any duty 
• but others, like reproduction prints or hand-painted or hand-decorated manufactured articles; collages, mosaics are NOT EXEMPT
• identify the applicable duty rate so you can make provision for this in the price you charge / quote to your buyer if overseas (as in "price before all applicable tax, duty and shipping")

9701 21 0000 is the tariff code applies to fine art paintings, drawing and print which are exempt - and below is the US version of the Harmonised Tariff Schedule which says this.

What is not clear is whether the new duty Trump seeks to levy is in addition to any status identified in the Harmonised Tariff Commody Code Schedule

This is the USA version of the Harmonised Tariff Schedule

Plus to quote the UK Integrated Online Tariff 

Heading 9701 does not apply to mosaics that are mass-produced reproductions, casts or works of conventional craftsmanship of a commercial character, even if these articles are de-signed or created by artists.

For the purposes of heading 9702, the expression ‘original engravings, prints and lithographs’ means impressions produced directly, in black and white or in colour, of one or of several plates wholly executed by hand by the artist, irrespective of the process or of the material employed by him, but not including any mechanical or photomechanical process.

Heading 9703 does not apply to mass-produced reproductions or works of conventional craftsmanship of a commercial character, even if these articles are designed or created by artists. 

I've done some more reading today. 

I continue to be absolutely horrified by the way in which the US side of the documentation continues to be POOR - particularly the website relating to Customs and Border Protection which is shambolic and really out of date in relation to Trade

This is what I got when looking at Importing in the US. Note the date on the document

THE BOTTOM LINE

My take on it is I don't care if people say "they've worked it out" - this is a government and an administration which is comprehensively and seriously failing to provide proper, comprehensive, articulate and up to date guidance to people engaged in trade!!

If I was an artist exporting to the USA I wouldn't.

If I was an artist wanting to enter an open exhibition or art competition in the UK - and then re-export to the USA - I wouldn't.

That's about as plain as I can make it

Drawing my cat in sepia ink

Chloe sunbathing and sleeping on the yellow chair
August Bank Holiday 1994
Pilot G-Tec-C4 pen in sepia ink in Moleskine Sketchbook

31 years ago, I spent Bank Holiday Monday drawing my cat Chloe lazing on the back of my big creamy yellow armchair. It was especially favoured because it had feather and down cushions and hence a very comfortable squishy bed could be achieved by a cat dedicated to comfy sleeps.

This is drawn, by eyeballing sat 10 feet away, in pen and sepia ink in my Moleskine sketchbook. 

I now have a print of this pic in a frame sat right next to where she used to love sunbathing and sleeping.

I've always been in favour of staying home on Bank Holiday Mondays. There again I do live in central London, which necessitates a long slog in the traffic to get back home again if I go out when everybody else decides to go out!

Moreover, at the time I was working as a management consultant for one of the "Big Four" with lots of travel all around the country - with very early starts and very late returns home.

 Staying at home and not doing very much - except drawing my cat - was my idea of a proper "time out"!

I also used to get up early on Saturday mornings to draw using pastels and would aim to complete a large work by early afternoon....

Postal Services to the USA cancelled across the world! What does this mean for artists?

At midnight on Sunday, I spotted a post on social media which indicated there was going to be a major issue for ALL ARTISTS - anywhere in the world - who sell artwork to buyers in the USA.

MOST POSTAL SERVICES AROUND THE WORLD 

HAVE CANCELLED DELIVERY TO THE USA

+ 

ART SALES TO THE USA ARE GOING TO CRASH

I spent most of yesterday and this morning working on a new page for my website - called Shipping Art to the USA i.e. https://www.artbusinessinfo.com/shipping-art-to-usa.html 

Today, being a bank holiday is not the best day to announce it's now public - however the proverbial will be hitting the fan today and tomorrow.....

My new web page for all those caught out by the change in tariffs / border control
and the comprehensive suspension of postal services
Link is https://www.artbusinessinfo.com/shipping-art-to-usa.html

I know a lot of artists - across the world - who regularly sell art to Americans are very worried about what this means for their business.

My new website includes sections about

• three key drivers around the problem for artists
• what has been happening in the last month
• what it means in practical terms for artists
• what it means in different continents and countries around the world.
• plus lots and lots of references

The irony in the title is that the AIRLINES are the current driver leading to the comprehensive suspension of aircraft for carrying post to the USA.

"No longer shipping" courtesy of Astral Synergy Productions

Bottom line, yet again, the change in policy at motormouth speed is way in advance of the systems developments required to deliver what the USA wants which is

• cancellation of the exemption from tariffs for all post and parcels with a value of between $800 and $100 
• all post/parcels for imports MUST arrive in the USA marked up "Delivery Duty Paid" (this is Trump's notion of how to get the other countries to pay him money)
• On top of this there's an argument going between lawyers as to whether Trump can cancel the almost universal exemption of certain classes of art from any form of tariff duty payable.

The airlines have seen the writing on the wall and they are NOT HAPPY! (I'm assuming they worked out the reality, i.e. masses of small packages not going anywhere fast and stuck on planes because space has run out in normal storage areas before packages are processed). 

So they pulled the plug! Well done the airlines is what I think!

So given the complete carcrash of a mess which is currently exploding around the world, I thought I better get on with my new page!!!

So what I've published is my "best effort to date" BUT it is neither comprehensive nor do I guarantee everything on it is correct. However I've included a lot of references to people writing about this issue in other places and will continue to review and update in the coming days.

This is the short section providing headlines about implications for artists

Implications for Artists
- as producers and exporters of art to buyers in the USA

I'll be writing more about this - but right now I'd like to have lunch and get out in the sunshine and "have some time off"!

Does HMRC's "Making Tax Digital" affect you?

Did you know how much you earn does not only affect how much tax you pay? 

In future, it is likely to affect HOW you (1) account for your gross income and (2) pay your tax. 

This is all part of the Making Tax Digital initiative of HMRC. This blog post is all about what's happened recently and what's coming - and whether you need to know more NOW!

I'm going to say upfront, if you are an amateur artist or a professional not earning very much from your art you have nothing to worry about - for the moment.

However those earning MORE than "not earning very much" MUST get to grips with Making Tax Digital soon. Plus note that they are focused on gross income and not net (more about this below)

Digital record-keeping will deliver time-saving benefits for taxpayers (HMRC)

IN THE NEAR FUTURE, I'm going to be developing a "Making Tax Digital page" in the Tax section of my Art Business Info website - alongside the existing UK Tax Tips for Artists to provide artists with links to useful info.

In the meantime, I'll be blogging about it on here for artists who need to get their heads around it.

Of course, as always (here comes the disclaimer), as law and related online content changes all the time,  I am totally unable to warrant that ANY and/or ALL information is complete and/or

• professional and/or
• up to date and/or
• wholly accurate and/or
• all links lead to the most current information (at the time of writing)

UNLESS I am quoting recent HMRC emails (see below) or HMRC websites with a recent date. 

YOU are solely responsible for making sure that you get the proper advice. Personally, I find the HMRC website provides everything most people need to know - but you do need to read it!

Making Tax Digital

As somebody who completes a self-assessment form each year, I received my Getting ready for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax email from HMRC yesterday which very clearly states the timetable for the staged implementation of Making Tax Digital. 

I assume everybody else who makes a self assessment tax return for sole trader income also got the same email. So look in your inbox if you missed it!