Dan Yaccarino: Say, “YES!”

Dan Yaccarino identifies himself as a character designer.  He is an author and illustrator.  He has published 54 books in the past 20 years.  According to Yaccarino Studio, over 1.5 million books have sold.  His awards include the Bologna Ragazzi (graphic and editorial design), The New York Time’s 10 Best Illustrated (selected by panel of judges as 1 of 10 best illustrated), ALA Notable (American Library Association), and the Parents Choice Award (honoring best books for children).

Although many of us tell our children that they need to have experience in another field in case being an artist doesn’t work, Yaccarino said his success is due, in part, to the fact that he had nothing to fall back on.  To him, having only had experience in the Arts meant that he could not allow himself to fail.  He had to make his art career work.  He credits his successful career in the art field due to hard work and not being afraid to say “yes” to new challenges.

Yaccarino believes we should keep notebooks (writers) and sketchbooks (illustrators).  He talked of how, through the years, he has saved stacks of his sketchbooks.  “You need a safe place to dump all your thoughts out - even the mistakes.”  Yaccarino has often used his old sketchbooks to get his ideas from, as he works on new products.  He also collects toys. His favorite are toy robots.  He gets many character ideas from his toys. 

Lastly, Yaccarino implored us to say “yes” to new challenges and to create books about things that we are interested in.  He does.