Yangblog world

New format to see every post. I better apologize for what you might see.

2012-08-06T09:43:00.000-04:00

Google answered my prayers. They came up with a layout that lets you view everything ever written at once. Since most of the posts are inane, randomly choosing entries is the best way to experience Yangblog. It goes through many phases. Most of it is silly. There is a strange period where I am completely lost and Yangblog is a blog wandering in the wilderness. There is one super bizarre period where I am commenting on financial and macro stuff. Like drawing giant headed people qualifies me to disagree with Bernanke or Geithner. Like I would ever want to hear what they have to say about design and composition. Some posts are notes from traveling around the world with Mrs Yangblog who is a modern dancer and choreographer. When she is performing internationally I grab the laptop, work on the road and tag along.

Since you can now access any post in an instant, it is time for apologies.

1) Apologies to Keanu Reeves. I might have said something snotty about your acting chops relative to other actors. Years later it occurred to me I have seen many of your movies. There are actors I will avoid like the plague and you are not one of them. David Caruso comes to mind. Please apologize for me if you see him.

2) Michelle Wie. There is a post about your parents and golf game from a few years back. Last year Anika Sorenstam criticized you for choosing college and neglecting your golf career. You embracing college and finding a world outside of golf turned me around to your side. Word has it you are amazing with baked goods. Please open up a bakery in Park Slope.

3) To Kobe Bryant. On second thought, never mind. He looks like one guy I know who is the BIGGEST TURD IN THE WORLD. Technically I'm not hating Kobe. I'm hating Mr. Turd.

4) To professional golfer K.J Choi. Remember the golf grip you personally showed me? Not using it anymore.

5) To sticklers for grammar. Lots of minefields that will make your head explode.

6) To anyone reading. Maybe I'm being harsh, but some of the writing is UNREADABLE. At least the art is nice. If you don't like the art, what the heck are you doing reading my blog? Trust me, there is no "art that makes me vomit" bookmark on my browser. There is a "best of Yangblog" list if you want the gems. It is in the menu to the right of the layout.

7) A lot of entries are apologies. I'm sorry.

Hopefully you will enjoy the uncut, unedited Yangblog.

Love it not for who you want me to be, but for who I really am.

Here's how bad you should feel if you lost money on Facebook. Even artists knew to stay away.

2012-05-28T09:17:00.000-04:00

There is no sympathy in the Yang household for anyone losing money on the Facebook IPO. None. Nada. Not a smidge. If you got nailed and feel badly, here's another reason you should feel bad.

I don't know any illustrator who bought FB. Why should this make you feel bad? Let me list the reasons:

1) Our favorite investing approach is "chasing manias"

2) We loaded up on tech stocks in the 90's because we once did a drawing for Businessweek

3) We loaded up on global stocks in 2007 because we once did a drawing for Businessweek International.

4) Fidelity manager Peter Lynch killed us with the buy what you know approach. Artists know movies and music. Most artists feel they are too cool for Disney so they probably stayed away from Disney. What's the best media stock? Disney.

5) Illustrators loaded up on Krispy Kreme because it is funny and retro to say you own a doughnut stock. It is even funnier to say you rode a doughnut stock up and down.

5) Someone would have bragged about being reckless enough to dive in with both feet and getting blown up. Getting blown up means you're an artist who lives on the edge. This is excellent branding for an illustrator.

6) Most illustrators did own Apple. This is because we have the same turtleneck Jobs wore in our closet. It is a miracle illustrators didn't buy Facebook. Most illustrators have a hoodie in the closet next to the turtleneck. Maybe it's because Zuckerberg doesn't look like he belongs in a hoodie. Artists hate poseurs.

Another reason no one bought Facebook is because we're bad at math and couldn't figure out how they make gobs of money.

Wow.

This should really make you feel like a village idiot if you got burned.

We accidentally stayed out for the best reason of all.

This denying yourself stuff is overrated

2012-05-10T12:27:00.003-04:00

Last week an email popped in from a friend who was moving to Thailand and needed to sell his stuff. Normally I would discard these emails but this was an exception for the following reasons:

1) He is German
2) He is an illustrator like myself.
3) He has a very strong design aesthetic and will not settle for CRAP

If there is one lesson to be learned in life, learn that Germans with a strong design sense have the best stoop sales.

On the list was an Eiermann desk. The Eiemann desk is a 1953 design from a German architect. As you know, it is a requirement for creatives in the 21st century to be fans of mid century design. Fortunately I called in time and the table was mine. When I went to pick it up, it was in several pieces. He had a small envelope with nuts and bolts. I asked if there were any installation instructions.

He said no. Just looking at it would be explanation enough.

I had doubts but he said relax. Just place the pieces on the floor, clear my mind, and use my inner eye. The answers would come. When I got home, I did has he said.

It worked.

The table was up in a very short time. The surface is custom made from high quality plywood and the size is perfect. After arranging everything, it fit so well it seemed like this desk had been waiting its whole life for ME.

All this time I had settled for desks that were good enough. My first desk was a large desk from Staples that looked like it belonged on the set of "Office Space". Even with art stuff on it, it had a mid level manager feel. The next desk was a smaller desk from IKEA that looked great but felt like a toy. Working on it felt like you were ten and playing make believe.

The Eiermann desk is the kind the desk I had dreamed about. It doesn't feel like a desk. It feels like a workspace you use if you are a BADASS artist.

I had been an idiot all these years settling for crap.

If you will excuse me, I need to stretch my arms.

92 inches of desk is hard to hug.

Wow. Did I take the 90's for granted.

2012-04-26T11:25:00.000-04:00

A friend and I were reminiscing about the tech boom in the 90's since we worked for a lot of the same clients. He did media placement and I did illustrations. Since he personally worked with Steve Jobs and did stints at Pixar and Disney, his stories were way more interesting than mine.

What became clear is how much the tech boom distorted illustration. Looking back, it was an insanely good time to be an illustrator. I don't talk about this with my students graduating from Parsons since I don't want them to stick their heads in a gas oven.

Here are clues to the insanity:

1) Clients would call and you would turn them down because you were booked. They would call back in a couple of hours begging because EVERYBODY was booked. Often they would double the budget so you would reconsider.

2) Once had a client accidentally pay twice for a project. It was for $2500. I called the client to let them know and asked where to return the check. Client said they would get back in touch. They later called and told me to keep it because it would be a pain in the ass to correct the mistake.

3) Computers for graphics were very expensive in the 90's. One of my Macs with ram upgrades and a new monitor cost $14000. Sometimes I would buy a new computer just because my current one was dirty.

4) Illustrators who SUCKED were making six figures a year without effort. If you were a village idiot and an illustrator in the 90's, no worries. Six figures was doable.

5) Magazines had so much ad money from tech companies they didn't have enough content to justify ad pages. You would be called to fill up blank pages.

6) Every illustrator I knew invested in tech stocks. Everybody. You would wake up each day worth thousands more and get a spare thousand or two popping up in commissions in addition to work you already booked for the whole month. You would be stressed because you were sure everybody else was doing better than you.

7) No matter what crazy number you threw out for a project, you were wondering if you underbid.

8) You did not want to be President of the United States because you did not want a pay cut.

When it came to an end it was stunning.

A couple years later a client accidentally paid twice for a reuse. The amount was $200. They called and asked if I could return the payment.

I did and made a mental note.

It was time to clean the computer more regularly.

Okay, maybe the dollar is worth less.

2012-04-23T13:35:00.000-04:00

Last summer, a friend gave the Yangs a Dahon Vitesse D7i bike. Since I HATE TO SHARE, I recently bought a Dahon MU P8 so we could ride together this summer.

The bike cost $799.

I was shocked.

I'm not shocked at the price. I'm shocked this is considered a mid range bike. Seems like $1000 is where you start talking about nice bikes.

In 1971, my parents decided I was old enough for a 10-speed. I spent forever researching bikes and knew the deal. If you wanted a decent bike, you were looking around a hundred dollars. If you wanted to push your luck, $250 was the range. If you wanted your Korean parents who lived through two wars to mercilessly beat you for being delusional, you asked for a bike costing more than $300.

I chose a red stripped down Flandria 10-speed which was considered a great bike for the price. It cost $109.

That is what the Mu P8 is considered. It's a bargain for the price. It's a very fun bike and has very nice components but c'mon. The Flandria bike was the bike of European cyclists. I'm talking the Tour de France guys.

If you will excuse me, it's time call my agent and discuss a new negotiating tactic.

I'm thinking "a great price for this kind of illustration" argument could be a winner.

What the hell happened, Yangblog?

2012-04-17T09:11:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a long time. Since the last post was about NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS, it has been a really long time. This is what happens when the world changes on you.

Yangblog World started as a window into my world. Then Facebook happened which is the mother of all windows into people's worlds. Add Twitter where I can be a smartass 140 characters at a time and it became hard to figure out what to do with Yangblog World.

Yesterday I was telling Mrs Yangblog it was time to end Yangblog.

Today someone asked why I haven't written. They want to see more. Naturally this must be a sign from FORCES GREATER THAN MYSELF that the world will end if I stop.

Lemme figure out what can be said here that can't be said elsewhere and is actually worth reading.

Just in case follow me on Twitter.

Trust me. There is plenty of funny there.

I've got your resolutions right here.

2012-01-01T09:17:00.000-05:00

Don't know about you, but I'm sick of the Mayans. Not only do they say 2012 is the year the world ends, but it happens the day before my birthday. Every day of 2012 is going to be a giant eff you to the Mayans to make this the best year ever. Here is how it's going to happen:

1) Just came back from Hong Kong. Abby says friends really enjoyed hanging out with me. I don't speak Cantonese so her friends have to make an effort to speak English. Listening to a person talk in a second language is tiring so I talk A LOT less, blend in the background, listen to others and asked how they are doing. That's why they liked hanging out with me. Going to remember I'm not that interesting.

2) Not going to beat myself up endlessly. I know that's how Koreans roll, but whatever I'm doing wrong isn't THAT fatal. I will change stuff if I do fall flat on my face. This does not apply to golf.

3) Speaking of falling flat on my face, If this happens, I'm going to try again and not bellyache it can't be done. It can be done. It just has to be done differently.

4) Make art I want to make, not what I think others want me to make. The irony is whenever I do this, clients are very happy.

4) Invite friends more often to have pie at the badass pie shop in the neighborhood. Eating pie anytime is nice, but it's nicer to share a stupid pie-smeared grin with company.

5) Complain openly about bad trades and keep quiet about good trades. Just figured out this is what Mr. Market wants. One friend bragged constantly this year. Mr. Market gave him the prison girlfriend treatment. It was ugly but fun to watch.

6) Just cracked up at my "prison girlfriend" joke. Going to use that line more often.

7) Know the difference between alternate viewpoints and denial. Respect alternate viewpoints. Call out people in denial. Mercilessly mock those who mistakenly call out people with alternate viewpoints when they are the one in denial.

8) Speaking of calling out, going to call out those wearing MC Hammer pants. That trend is trying to make a comeback. If the Mayans are right, I'm not spending the last year of humanity looking at MC Hammer pants.

9) If the MC Hammer trends persists, I'll give in and buy a pair.

10) Wear the MC Hammer pants on December 22nd. If the Mayans are right, everyone will blame the pants.

Notes From Hong Kong: This is going to hurt if you're a Fox Newstard.

2011-12-10T06:10:00.001-05:00

Wow.

Have run into this a couple of times already and it happens when meeting people who travel abroad for business. If you have an American accent, you are suspect. You have to clear a couple of hurdles: 1) Are you from New York? If yes, go to 2) Are you a banker? 3) Do you educate yourself by listening to Fox News?

If you answer these questions wrong, you are pegged as an imbecile.

When I first came to Hong Kong in the Nineties, if you had and American accent, people warmed to you immediately.

Don't cry.

It is what it is.

Notes From Hong Kong: Twit at my 9 o'clock.

2011-12-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

While happily downing a rice bowl of ginger and grilled pork in a crowded food court in Kwun Tong, I heard someone clear his throat. A tall gentleman with a handlebar mustache, umbrella, looking like a stand in for John Cleese from Faulty Towers was standing at my table. He looked overwhelmed. He asked if he could sit.

I said sure, be my guest.

He just stood there.

I said no problem, have a seat.

He looked slightly annoyed and said, "I'm sorry, I don't understand your English. Is it okay for me to sit?"

He said it with an American accent. It is understandable why there could be confusion. I have a Midwestern accent which nobody ever hears in AMERICA. He had thin sliced and in his blank frightened ironically mustached head predetermined that I did not speak English. I did the only reasonable thing you could do.

I pretended not to speak English.

I pointed to the chair like Slingblade and he sat down. He had ordered a burger and fries. We exchanged looks and I did the awkward smiling and nodding thing, looking at his burger, looking back at him, then smiling and nodding again. I made sure to stretch it out so the whole experience was ETERNAL.

He looked back nervously, quickly downed his burger and left.

Maybe I was a dick. It wouldn't hurt to cut him some slack. I should have told him to try the Chinese sausage.

I hate Chinese sausage.

Notes From Hong Kong: 2011 Edition

2011-12-05T02:43:00.001-05:00

Once again it's time to move the studio to Hong Kong for a month, spend time with Abby's family, and become my own little outsourcing operation. Still clearing the cobwebs as Abby has been furiously scheduling time with friends who want to see me. She as no idea why I am so popular.

I do.

It's because I don't speak Cantonese.

I'm much more charming when my mouth is shut. The glassy eyed look I have from jet lag adds a mysterious quality. Mrs. Yang smoothing out my asinine comments in translation also doesn't hurt. It's nice to know there is something else I'm good at besides illustrating. I'm a savant when it comes to being arm candy for Mrs Yang.

Abby tells me we have friends to see in a couple of days.

I better start doing sit-ups.

Stuff I think I know.

2011-11-13T21:09:00.001-05:00

It looks like I'll be lecturing at Parsons this spring semester about professional practices. I've always enjoyed teaching on the college level. It gets you out of the studio. You learn how to focus your thoughts and not ramble like the aunt you dread visiting every holiday. Fewer things are as rewarding as seeing the light go in a student's head because you've found a way to connect. At the American Illustration party last week, I had the chance to meet a couple of students who asked about my course.

I told them they were going to learn stuff they don't know. This is what I do know if you don't want your dreams to DIE:

1) Don't worry what others are doing. Creatives are competitive, but if you constantly compare yourself to others, you will go insane. Live in your own little artist bubble and try to do something better than you've done before. You will be surprised how fast you grow.

2) This is a contradiction, but compare yourself to others. You want to make sure you are not getting left in the dust. Some of my best growth has come from going to openings and CRAPPING IN MY PANTS because the art was so good.

3) I know there are divas, but less than 1 percent can pull off the diva act. Unfortunately, most artists think they ARE the 1 percent. Just to play it safe, don't be a dick until you are sure. I remember an art director choosing illustrators for a project. She passed over one illustrator who was crazy good because he was a pain in the ass. My dickish ways decreased dramatically after seeing this.

4) Learn to say yes.

5) Learn to say no.

6) Learn to say "I don't know" if you don't know.

7) Say you can do it even if you can't. Learn how to do it on the fly and do it well. The amount of confidence you will get if you can pull it off is HUGE. It will serve you well for the rest of your career.

8) Don't act desperate. Clients like to work with winners. Clients are not Oprah. They are not trying to save anybody.

9) It's okay to make mistakes. Just don't make the same mistake twice. This is also a quote from "Breaking Bad". What a great show. Don't miss it.

10) Persistence is more important than talent. I know many talented people who couldn't cut it because they gave up too easily. If you are talented and persistent, you are going to be a badass.

Even if you're a badass, don't act like a diva.

A bigger badass is just around the corner.

Everybody keeps asking what Occupy Wall Street wants. Here's what they want.

2011-10-10T12:19:00.002-04:00

People keep asking what the Occupy Wall Street crowd wants. Below are two videos that sum it up concisely. Personally, I am surprised the protests have staying power and seem to be growing. I guess what we learned in science class about a strong action (Tea Party) having an equally strong and opposite reaction (Occupy Wall St) is true. They are both visceral reactions to the meltdown.

Friends know I have more than a casual interest in the markets and many past and present clients are based in finance. The nicest compliment came from an editor from Institutional Investor Magazine who said they would always call me if they didn't understand the article. Who are institutional investors? They're the guys who won't pick up the phone if you're worth less than a 100 million. Since the meltdown in 08 I have became more interested in the technical and macro aspects of the market because most advisers for regular people are FULL OF SHIT.

In Wall St, you have two kinds of participants in the market. Smart money and dumb money.

The biggest irony of the Tea Party/Occupy Wall St coin is the macro smart money guys agree with many of the goals of Occupy Wall Street when it comes to financial reform and the wealth gap. When smart money guys talk about the Tea Party, it is usually with derision.

Bet however you want.

I prefer running with the smart money.

(Thanks to Bill Alger for the find)

Goodbye Mr Jobs. Thanks for my career. That's a pretty nice gift.

2011-10-06T06:07:00.001-04:00

(From the home page at Apple.com)

Why do I say Mr Jobs gave me my career?

In the 90's my career as an illustrator was roaring along with a painting style. Clients were constantly calling and my agent couldn't be happier. I was painting and collaging to my heart's desire. Then something happened.

The work hit a creative ceiling. My painting had gone as far as it could go. Art became a chore.

I started playing around with the Mac and the intuitiveness made experimenting fun. The technology kept improving which made it easier for creatives. Frankly, I was lazy when it came to painting. Once a path was decided in painting, that was it. It was too much work to backtrack and try a different idea. The Mac freed me from this excuse. Experimenting with options and compositions were a click away. You could save multiple versions of the same image. It was like a visual diary of your process. The work broke through a ceiling.

I remember when Jobs was forced out of Apple the first time. They were getting hammered in the marketplace. A string of execs started sucking the life out of a Mac. All the Apples were ugly beige boxes with an operating system that was getting dated. It looked like Apple was going to go out of business.

My illustrator friends and I were freaking out. If Apple went out of business, we were going to have to use Windows which were clunky for creating art. I told my friends eff it. If Apple dies, I'm giving up digital art and going back to painting.

Then Jobs came back.

Man did he come back. He made Jonathan Ive head of design. First those ugly beige boxes were replaced by colorful plastic machines that had a retro future thing going on. Next came the minimal design which looked like works of art in your studio. The operating system developed from Job's time at NeXT was genius. I remember when the first cinema display shipped. Receiving it was like Christmas Day for the first time and I couldn't stop staring at it. It looked like the effing future. It was FUN AS HELL to create art on an Apple.

The other day I heard from an art director I've worked with for years. She said she really likes how the work has grown since the 90's.

Thanks Mr Jobs.

Couldn't have done it without you.

You will be missed.

Seen this movie before, social network style

2011-09-24T08:42:00.000-04:00

My first experience with social networking happened when MySpace was king. While promoting the Joey and Jet series, my publicist at Simon and Schuster came up with the idea that we should make a MySpace page with Joey who would interact with children. This would make us rich, RICH beyond our wildest dreams. Being a newbie, I eagerly started building a MySpace page.

What a nightmare.

MySpace was an eyesore. The instructions were baffling to even a computer geek like myself. The templates made it MATHEMATICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to create a page that did not make your eyes throw up. If you wanted a nice page, you had to learn coding which was out of my league. Fortunately after frustrating days of getting nowhere, it dawned on me that creating a Joey page and corresponding with children under a false name seemed CREEPY. My horrified publicist agreed and Joey's MySpace page was killed.

When Facebook appeared on the scene, it was a breath of fresh air. Its simpler, unified look across the entire site was soothing compared to the visual vomit party that was MySpace. It was easy to set up. I created a profile just in case things got interesting. For a few months nothing happened

Then they came.

First it was Abby's friends who were performers. This made sense since they were the main users of MySpace. Then came designers and illustrators. This created a tipping point where Facebook came alive and soon I was flooded with requests from every part of my life. Facebook was great. It was easy.

Then Facebook got cocky and started screwing things up.

Your privacy became a pain in the ass to protect. With each update, the page got busier. Facebook started telling you how to interact. They came up with the brilliant idea that others could add you to groups so you could receive endless streams of bullshit that was difficult to stop. It started becoming complex. They now have a constantly updating feed forced into an already crammed space. It is tiring to look at Facebook.

A couple of months ago I got an invite for Google + and checked it out. The experience was a serious case of deja vu. The design is pleasingly unobtrusive and the type is elegant compared to the clunkiness of Facebook. In other words, using Google compared to Facebook was similar to using Facebook from MySpace. I set up a profile and nothing happened.

Until this week.

Suddenly, art directors and illustrators are adding me on Google+. I've had more conversations on Google+ in the last two days than I've had in the last two months. Most conversations are about how relaxing and soothing it is to visit Google +.

Congratulations Facebook.

It's not everyone who gets a chance to relive the MySpace story.

I'm so f*cking disappointed with Obama link party.

2011-08-07T01:02:00.008-04:00

Hell has no fury like a disillusioned Yangblog.

If you're someone who voted for Bush and still haven't admitted his eight years were a disaster, you can STFU. Seriously. In fact, you are forbidden from reading any further. Admitting mistakes is the path to wisdom.

I'll admit it. I voted for Obama and thought he was the Chosen One. Man was I wrong. Looks like I voted for this generation's Jimmy Carter which kind of makes sense since Carter was elected to wash away the memories of Watergate. Obama was elected to make everyone forget the Bush years.

Here are links which are much better at explaining the depths of my disappointment.

Enjoy.

If that is the word.

Opinion: What Happened to Obama? (The New York Times)

The Tragedy of the Obama Administration. (The Big Picture)

The Man Behind the Curtain. Realizing our leaders are vulnerable children inside adult bodies, just like us via Abnormal Returns. (The Reformed Broker)

Thanks to Alana Heller for this link: The Myth of Obama's "blunders" and "weakness" (Salon.com) The main argument Glenn Greenwald makes is nobody with Obama's intelligence can be this monstrously bad a negotiator.

Obama had one shot with stimulus to save the economy. He blew it (The Big Picture)

It's "The blind squirrel finds a nut" time

2011-08-01T17:08:00.002-04:00

I'm sorry, I'm going to have to toot my own horn here.

Check out these two links:

China watching in shock as the US takes them to the financial cleaners:
Yangblog makes a joke in 2009 about China's smugness over owning a trillion dollars in US debt.

C'mon, that's a pretty impressive call, especially from a guy who draws giants heads for a living.

Figures. I didn't need to write about Google +. All I needed to do was share this.

2011-08-01T10:28:00.000-04:00

What a coincidence. I have the exact same incriminating pictures that need to be removed from my Facebook. Enjoy.

Thanks for the do-over, Google Plus

2011-07-31T23:57:00.003-04:00

Figures after bellyaching about all the social sites, Google would throw something out there to make us spend even more time at the computer. Like I don't spend enough time. Ask my wife. There have been times we've chatted on Skype WHILE WE'RE BOTH IN THE SAME ROOM.

An invite to Google Plus was in my mailbox it for weeks before I gave in and checked it out.

I was shocked.

Google Plus is effing great.

Some thoughts after playing around with it for a week:

1) Remember when everyone was on MySpace but it was butt ugly so you gave Facebook a try? Google Plus on a lesser level does the same thing for me. I love the simple, clean, uncluttered feeling of Google Plus and the interface is more intuitive and flows better than FB. Circles is a stroke of genius. You just drag and drop people into different circles to organize groups.

2) Figuring out privacy on FB is a pain in the ass. They make you dig around. If you're like me, you gave up and make everything public. I once saw an ugly domestic spat in FB because the couple hadn't figured out what was visible. Oops. Controlling privacy is much easier on Google Plus

3) Maybe this is just me, but my friends list on FB is a giant unorganized mess. There is no way in hell I'm going to spend time organizing it. Google Plus is a chance to redo your social networking life.

4) You can follow people like on Twitter. You don't have to reciprocate if people want to follow you. This makes a cleaner news stream. Admit it. Your newsfeed on FB is one giant, noisy mess with tons of posts about pets and babies from people you barely know.

5) You can choose which stream to follow. It is like having channels on TV. You can follow professionals in one stream, then click a button and follow friends. Streams can be followed depending on how you organize groups.

6) The personal profile page much better looking on Google +. The design has more of a clean Swiss feel. Visual professionals are legally required to like anything Swiss.

7) You can edit your posts. In FB you have to delete then reenter your posts.

8) Can't put my finger on it, but there is something about Google Plus that keeps me checking it out even though there are not many people on it. This is a very good sign. When I first put a profile up on FB, not much happened for about a year then all hell broke loose. The same thing could happen with Google Plus.

In general, Google Plus seems more grown up than FB.

We'll see how well this holds up after my goofball friends start using it.

Stuff I've Been Doing Instead of Posting On Yangblog.

2011-07-07T17:07:00.003-04:00

1) Working like a mofo. Clients like it when you do work YOU ARE PAID TO DO.

2) Playing golf when not working like a mofo.

3) Playing golf well and thinking I have found the holy grail.

4) Playing golf badly after thinking I found the holy grail.

5) Working more like a mofo to forget how badly I can play golf.

6) Making angry art for clients because I'm working through my golf issues.

6) Playing tennis when not working like a mofo. Eff golf. It is a fickle lady.

7) Begging people to play tennis who won't play with me because I am either too good or too sucky.

8) Working on working like a mofo because nobody will play tennis with me.

9) Doing sad art for clients because I'm working through my orphan tennis issues.

10) Playing the stock market when I don't have to work like a mofo.

11) Making enough money in the market to think I never have to work like a mofo again.

12) Losing enough money in the market to focus on working like a mofo. Who am I kidding? I'm no Warren Buffet.

13) Playing poker with friends when not working like a mofo or playing the market like a drunken Warren Buffet.

14) Winning enough money at poker to think I don't have to work like a mofo.

15) Losing enough money in poker to focus on working like a mofo.

16) Feeling guilty about not posting Yangblog after friend asks where the hell is Yangblog.

17) Post on Yangblog to get friend off my back.

18) Working like a mofo. What the hell am I doing wasting time posting on Yangblog?

Oi. Too Many Blogs-

2011-04-30T10:19:00.006-04:00

Damn this thing called progress. If you're a creative professional, having samples of your work available in a medium a client wants it is everything. Lucky me. I get to be born during a time where everything about illustration changes multiple times at the speed of light.

First there were portfolio books. Then the web came along and you ditched your books and created static websites which you rarely updated because updating was a pain in the ass. Then came blogs which was a brilliant way to keep people updated so you had a website and a blog. Then came Facebook which made blogging for most people unnecessary. At the moment you have Wordpress which is the mother of all sites because you can make it do everything you want with relative ease.

Lucky me.

I have all of this crap in addition to Twitter. Like stuff that collects in your house after years, my online stuff has turned into a giant clutter.

What am I going to do with all this stuff?

Here's how I'm rolling:

Planet Yang keeps you updated on everything from the creative end.
If you want smart ass Yang and updates about work, Twitter is your guy.
Facebook is pretty much what Yangblog World was before there was Facebook.
Yangblog is where I let my freedom flag fly. It gets updated whenever I feel like updating it. It is the online equivalent of riding in a convertible with the top down and letting your hair fly. In my case, it is imaginary hair.

Does that clear things up?

I didn't think so.

New Neighbor on the Yang Workspace

2011-03-29T11:01:00.000-04:00

Apple must have Marquis de Sade running their online store. They first send you the iPad cover then send you the iPad one week later. Like most Apple customers aren't already insane enough with misplaced priorities. It arrived yesterday and I told it to sit at the corner of the desk and get acquainted with his new neighbors while I bang out a deadline.

It is so painfully obvious why Apple is kicking everyone's asses. I didn't bother reading the instructions. I know how to use it. So do millions of others who own an iPhone or iPod. The instructions that come are a small piece of paper with an Apple logo that says,"Really?"

I'm sure I'll like it.

You know why?

Because Apple says I better like it. That was on the back page of the instructions.

A Little Distracted Today.

2011-03-11T12:11:00.002-05:00

Gift cards + iPad2 launch day = very distracted Yang. Trying to knock out sketches and the only thing running through my head is mine mine mine mine mine mine mine.

Damn you Steve Jobs.

Your reality distortion field is too much for one man to bear.

Designers everywhere rejoice.

2011-03-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

Designer/ Illustrator Melinda Beck has done a huge favor and created a new logo for Planet Yang. As designers know, you can never have great design without great type. I'm like Salieri when it comes to type. I'm good enough to know great type when I see it, but not good enough to create great type. Here's the conversation that changed my life.

Melinda: Do you see it? Doesn't it drive you nuts?

Me: What are you talking about?

Melinda: The spacing in "Planet Yang". There is too much space between the "Y" and the "a". It's like a huge gaping hole.

Me: Oh yeah.

Melinda: Doesn't it drive you nuts? Doesn't it drive you insane every time you look at it. It's like an ugly sore. You keep going back to it. Do you see it? Do you see it? Do you see it?

Me: OH GOD!!!!!! I SEE IT!!!! IT'S SICKENING!!!! CHANGE IT NOW!!!!!

Melinda: I'm busy. You can have it in a couple of weeks.

Me: NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

So now Planet Yang has a new logo and the site looks complete.

Type heads everywhere can now sleep in peace.

It's Never Over Unless You Want It To Be Over.

2011-03-02T09:11:00.009-05:00

Say you were one of the billions of illustrators back in the 70's and 80's who were influenced by Magritte and the Surrealists. Life was good. Giant landscapes with tiny everyman in suits and bowler hats were hot. You thought it would never end.

Suddenly it ended. You woke up one day and became Peter Frampton after Sgt. Peppers. Surrealism is played out. You are seriously effed. Oh man you are effed. Your only skill is putting tiny guys with suits into surreal landscapes. You are wandering in the wilderness like millions of other similar illustrators who now have plenty of spare time. What can you do with a style that nobody wants to publish?

You can put your vision on film or the stage and blow people's minds away.

Check out this video by Dimitris Papaioannou. He is a Greek choreographer and director who also does illustration and graphic novels. He was the director for the opening ceremony for the Athens Olympics. After seeing this, tell me he doesn't remind you of every illustrator from the era of tiny guys in business suits.

If you're ever in a coffee shop or bar and I hear you bitching and moaning about the good old days, please forgive me if I slap you across the face.

It's never over.

Unless you want it to be over.

How to Win Best Actor/Actress at The Oscars

2011-03-01T09:33:00.004-05:00

After the King's Speech won multiple awards, it dawned on me that Ricky Gervais was correct when he said the key to winning an Oscar is doing a WW2 movie, preferably something about the Holocaust. Here are more tips for actors and actresses as they choose roles that are Oscar worthy:

1) Gain weight for your role

2) Lose weight for your role

3) If you're straight, play someone gay. ( gay actors have had to play straight for years, so this is not Oscar worthy)

4) Play someone who saves the world.

6) Play someone who likes to see the world burn.

7) Act mentally challenged. The closer you can be to being offensive without being offensive the better.

8) Learn a working class Boston accent.

Good luck and look forward to seeing you at next years' Oscars.

Please keep your acceptance speech short.