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| Art by me, script by the Viz editors. |
I've put a few more items up for sale today, and bidding will end on most of them next Sunday.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/graphite47/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686
Yesterday I read a comment on someone's blog who sneered that I was selling off my old artwork to try and make ends meet. My first thoughts were:
a) What if I am? It's a harmless way to earn a living/boost my income. Lots of comic artists sell their pages.
b) As I have no surviving family of my own why should I hoard it? Surely it's far better to give the readers a chance to buy an original piece of comic art?
Anyway, thanks again to those of you who have bought pages, and for your nice feedback. I hope upcoming pages will also be of interest.
17 comments:
Taxman? Lew you don't need to pay tax on EBAY sales. Do you think those people selling off their junk class it as income? No. You don't pay tax on EBAY sales.
I'm afraid you do, Gareth, if it's related to your business. My accountant told me that. So if I sell artwork that I drew, then I have to pay tax on it because I'm a cartoonist by trade. If I was selling, say, a saucepan or a power drill (eg: something not related to my business) then I wouldn't be liable to pay tax on it.
Lew is correct. The only time you're not liable for tax on eBay is when you've made a loss on an item (EG you sell a DVD for a fiver that originally cost you a tenner). Selling ANY item to make a profit is taxable according to my accountant.
As for whoever sneered I suspect they are just jealous as no-one would ever buy THEIR artwork!
Rick.
You've sneered at him and others for allegedly not being the success you claim to be. Perhaps you shouldn't dish it out if you can't take it.
Speak to your accountant again. You're not selling it on a commission basis. You've already done that and declared your earnings on it. Now you're just selling possessions to clear space.
The mind boggles. Someone sneered at a professional artist because he sold his art? Isn't that the very definition of a 'professional' artist? Someone who is able to make a living from selling their art. Surely that is what so many amateur artists hope for but never succeed at. Not only that but many famous artists have lived their entire lives barely making ends meet despite posthumous recognition. They would have loved to have sold more of their art. Van Gough springs to mind. It just makes absolutely no sense to deride someone because their art is sufficiently valued by others that they want to buy it. If you were putting your art up for sale Lew and no one was buying it, then I could understand people sneering at you. The fact that it sells is all the testament you need that it is valuable and hence worth selling.
I don't know who's told you that Tom but they seem to have the wrong end of the stick. I don't sneer at anyone for trying their best to achieve their aims. I know how hard it is, and how disappointing setbacks are. Nor do I boast about being a "success", because freelancing is all too fragile a career to get cocky.
I've checked with two accountants. I'm afraid it is classed as earnings related to my profession so tax has to be paid. It would be the same if I sold prints of my characters, even if I'd already been paid for the original art.
Thanks. As can be seen from Tom's comment above it appears to be motivated by revenge ("Perhaps you shouldn't dish it out if you can't take it") from someone who's misunderstood something I've said in the past. Tch, Internet eh?
Lew your still young enough to find someone and have children. Pablo Picasso was 68 (a different sort of artist), David Jason was 61, Charlie Chaplin was 73!!
As we know young people love your artwork, and have done for 30 years including Buster, Dandy, Viz et al. So many would love to have an example hanging on their wall.
You've said him and others are bitter and jealous more than once. Bitter and jealous of what? And you agree when any followers say he's jealous of you. Not being rude, but you're every bit as bad at stirring it up as you say he is.
In that particular person's case, Tom, the only way I could rationalize his unnecessary over-the-top criticisms and abuse of myself and other Dandy artists was to assume that it must come from some bitterness and deep resentment. It certainly came across that way to me, and the more he continues doing it, the more it seems so. Therefore it was a reaction to his behaviour. I wouldn't normally say that about, well, any normal situation.
I'm sorry you considered my responses as "stirring it up". I'm aware that's how it may be perceived by people not aware of the full situation which is why I no longer respond to his remarks.
Thanks for the vote of confidence Digi. However, call me cynical but with the people you mentioned I'm reminded of Mrs.Merton's opening interview question with Debbie McGee: "What first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?" :-)
Anyway, I'm not selling off EVERY piece of artwork. There's still quite a few I'm keeping for myself, such as the Combat Colin pages, Brickman, Suburban Satanists, Dandy/Beano material, certain Christmas pages, etc.
Hey Rick. So let me get this straight. If I sell a DVD for more than I paid for it do I have to declare it as income?
The one I always liked Lew was the Y fronts guy carrying all those Mint comic issues. The comics were ruined of course, down there and must have gone gone down several grades. Having all the John Byrne X-men issues in near Mint, including 94, I could see how a collector would feel. That artwork must be worth quite a bit, as the fans would love it.
Funnily enough I've just had that page returned to me from Viz. I may put it on eBay in a few weeks.
To Tom, Lew has never boasted about being a success. If anything he's TOO modest, so check your sources.
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