Notes from John Fuller's Feb 21 Visit to ARTS 4900/6900
**I encourage you to read the chapter in Taking the Leap that focuses on preparing for tax season, and use these notes from Fuller's visit as a supplement**
Tips:
Remember to always record your mileage - gas can be written off in your taxes.
There is a distinction between profession and hobby. If you are a professional, you will do certain self-promotional things (sending out invitations or email announcements, keeping a mailing list, visiting galleries). The evidence of these activities is evidence of your engagement in the profession of being an artist and will help if you are ever audited by the IRS.
Separate checking account for your art - a good idea. That way, you can more easily keep track of your expenses. A detailed bank statement will be the same thing as a bunch of receipts, to the IRS.
Form 1099 - Your gallery should provide you with one of these. These are "non-employee compensation" forms.
W-2 - Your full time employer should provide this to you.
Form 1098 - Should come from your mortgage people, or your student loann company that you've been paying. It's proof of having paid interest on a debt. Interest is tax deductable.
Schedule C - The form that relates to your work as an artist. It is the Income Form for Business or Profession. It comes after the usual 1040 that you fill out.
1040 - The typical tax form that you fill out.
1040EZ- Don't want to use this if you've been buying a lot of supplies and selling art. Won't really reflect your situation.
Deductions: You can deduct your expenses for the year before the "tax" on your income is determined. By deducting these expenses, you are lowering your taxable income. This is a very, very good idea.
A business license is not necessary. But if you have a business telephone number, someone may call it and check to see if you have a business license.
When selling work: you don't have to collect sales tax. But, if you have a business license, you probably should.
If you are going to be a business, be a LLC (limited liability corporation). You'll pay your taxes quarterly in this case. You'll also be paying Social Security, and making a good "nest egg" for the future.
Social Security caps out at $90,000/year, but Medicare never runs out.
Begin saving money in a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA if you can.
You have up to 3 years to amend your taxes if you think you've made a mistake. So, this year, you can go back as far as 2003's taxes.
State Taxes - Standard deduction is $3,000 (for Georgia).
Federal Taxes - Standard deduction is $5,000.
If you're claimed by your parents as a dependent, don't claim yourself as a dependent.
It's smart, financially, to deduct yourself.
If you owe money, don't forget to put your SS# on the check. Your return will come faster.
Might be a good idea to prepay for a big expense in December, so that it will be on that year's taxes, and you can write it off as a deduction.
Tips on Deductions:
Remember to deduct your business phone. You can't deduct your cell phone, but a separate business phone, absolutely.
Remember to deduct any business trips you take. Including meals, hotels, etc.
Remember to deduct all business costs - including postage, mileage, gas, entertainment (buying a gallery owner lunch)
Remember to deduct any medical supplies, medical costs, visits to the doctor (including routine things such as eye glasses, etc.)
Remember to deduct the interest on the payments you've made on student loans.
If your studio is in your house, remember to deduct part of your rent, part of your utilities. If you own the space, you can take depreciation on bills. Think of it in terms of percentage (is your studio 25% of the floorplan space of your entire apartment? Then deduct 25% of your monthly rent, etc.)
There is a thing called "Lifelong Learning" which means that you can deduct $1,000/year on books, etc., you bought to continue learning.
If you don't sell any work in 7 years, you will definitely be audited if for all of those 7 years you have been writing off artist expenses.
Business equipment - you can write off up to $100,000 each year.
If you net a profit of over $400, it is subject to the self-employment tax (15% of what you earned)
If you net less than $400, no need to tax it
Deducting mileage: you can't deduct from home to studio mileage, but you can deduct from studio to places to buy supplies, or to meetings.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Ben Reynolds - Studio Photography
Notes from Ben Reynolds' Studio Photography Crash Course - March 2
**REMEMBER that you'll have to turn in digital images of your work by the end of the semester, or show them incorporated into your semester-long project. You can "check out" lights, a backdrop, and a camera from me with a few days' notice. Below are notes from BR's crash course on how to take photos of your work, using a digital camera.** For a more detailed description, visit the book, Taking the Leap, our text for class.
Taking Photographs of Flatwork:
1. Hang your work against a black backdrop. Velvet or felt produce a nice, rich black.
2. Set up your lights at a 45 degree angle to the work (see diagram in Taking the Leap)
Spreading out your light source will reduce your glare, if you are taking an image of an artwork that is framed (although it is recommended that you not take photographs of work that's already behind glass or plexiglas because of the glare). A polarizing filter will also reduce the glare.
Taking Photographs of Sculpture:
1. Set up a piece of long white paper so that it is pinned to the wall, then hangs down the wall, and is draped over a table top that is pushed against the wall. The curve of the white paper will make the table top/wall distinction less harsh, and will produce an attractive gradient with the light in the background. Could also be a black background just depending on the subject.
2. Set up your lights so that there is a primary and a secondary light source on the object, instead of just one, flat/constant light source as with the flatwork you photographed.
Taking Photographs of with the Copy Stand:
1. The copy stand that belongs to the Foundations department can be used to photograph small, flat works. It's recommended only for pieces 2' x 2' or smaller.
2. You can see me, or Chris Hocking, to sign up for a time to use the copy stand. The copy stand has its own lights, but you'll need to bring a camera.
- - -
3. Check your ISO in the digital camera. Recommended that you set it to 100. A lower ISO like 100 will yield a higher resolution (quality of the digital image).
4. Check your "white balance":
WB (white balance)
AWB (automatic white balance)
An "off" white balance will produce a dingy look, dirty white. Use a custom white balance, rather than automatic white balance, to make sure that your white stays white (rather than having the camera balance out all of the colors, which it will do if the camera is set on automatic). With white balance selected, focus your camera on something white and take a 'meter' reading.
5. Regardless of the method you use in taking photographs of your work, make sure you have only one 'temperature' of light: indoor and outdoor are different 'temperatures.' Never combine natural light with artificial light, the colors/temperatures of the light will compete.
6. Try "underexposing" and "overexposing" your images by changing the shutter speed up and down. Digital is cheap, try a lot of different exposures until you get a true representation of your work.
7. Digital images should cost about $5/slide to have turned into slides. Go to E6 in Atlanta - you can call them and submit your files by mail/CD or by e-mail. Don't go to Wolf, in Athens - they don't have the technology to do it right.
**REMEMBER that you'll have to turn in digital images of your work by the end of the semester, or show them incorporated into your semester-long project. You can "check out" lights, a backdrop, and a camera from me with a few days' notice. Below are notes from BR's crash course on how to take photos of your work, using a digital camera.** For a more detailed description, visit the book, Taking the Leap, our text for class.
Taking Photographs of Flatwork:
1. Hang your work against a black backdrop. Velvet or felt produce a nice, rich black.
2. Set up your lights at a 45 degree angle to the work (see diagram in Taking the Leap)
Spreading out your light source will reduce your glare, if you are taking an image of an artwork that is framed (although it is recommended that you not take photographs of work that's already behind glass or plexiglas because of the glare). A polarizing filter will also reduce the glare.
Taking Photographs of Sculpture:
1. Set up a piece of long white paper so that it is pinned to the wall, then hangs down the wall, and is draped over a table top that is pushed against the wall. The curve of the white paper will make the table top/wall distinction less harsh, and will produce an attractive gradient with the light in the background. Could also be a black background just depending on the subject.
2. Set up your lights so that there is a primary and a secondary light source on the object, instead of just one, flat/constant light source as with the flatwork you photographed.
Taking Photographs of with the Copy Stand:
1. The copy stand that belongs to the Foundations department can be used to photograph small, flat works. It's recommended only for pieces 2' x 2' or smaller.
2. You can see me, or Chris Hocking, to sign up for a time to use the copy stand. The copy stand has its own lights, but you'll need to bring a camera.
- - -
3. Check your ISO in the digital camera. Recommended that you set it to 100. A lower ISO like 100 will yield a higher resolution (quality of the digital image).
4. Check your "white balance":
WB (white balance)
AWB (automatic white balance)
An "off" white balance will produce a dingy look, dirty white. Use a custom white balance, rather than automatic white balance, to make sure that your white stays white (rather than having the camera balance out all of the colors, which it will do if the camera is set on automatic). With white balance selected, focus your camera on something white and take a 'meter' reading.
5. Regardless of the method you use in taking photographs of your work, make sure you have only one 'temperature' of light: indoor and outdoor are different 'temperatures.' Never combine natural light with artificial light, the colors/temperatures of the light will compete.
6. Try "underexposing" and "overexposing" your images by changing the shutter speed up and down. Digital is cheap, try a lot of different exposures until you get a true representation of your work.
7. Digital images should cost about $5/slide to have turned into slides. Go to E6 in Atlanta - you can call them and submit your files by mail/CD or by e-mail. Don't go to Wolf, in Athens - they don't have the technology to do it right.
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