On Dan's website there's some more information about him and his work: "If you have ever seen Dan Piraro’s critically acclaimed comic Bizarro (and you have: It is published daily in over 360 papers), you know that he doesn’t see the world as the rest of us do. His single-panel gems are a unique concoction of surrealistic imagery, social commentary, and witty plays on words. Indeed, if Salvador Dali, Garry Trudeau, and Oscar Wilde had an illegitimate child, that child would be Dan Piraro."
"Dan has been a cigar-smoking vegan, animal rights activist, atheist, NRA hater, ex-husband, father, stand-up comedian, painter, former host of FOX TV’s Utopia, and philosophizing cartoonist who makes his living writing and drawing a new cartoon every day, 365 days a year. But he’s not necessarily all of those things now."
"His humor is inspired partly by his own real-life situations and partly by the eccentric thoughts that pop into his overly active mind. Dan has a rare talent for ruffling feathers with scathing commentary on the mindlessness of modern life, then smoothing them down with his disarming humor, charm, and self-deprecating humility. (His permission to post this bio notwithstanding.) His intriguing perspective on life easily flows beyond the boundaries of one-panel cartoons and into an interesting, comedic conversation about a plethora of topics. He stirs up controversy, inspires revelations, and pokes fun at everyone along the way, including himself."
"His fans love him, with a social reach of over 100,000 and engagement with almost 1 million fans a month. His blogs and social media sites receive tens of thousands of visitors each day. King Features distributes Bizarro on their online portal, comicskingdom.com. He has also sold a respectable number of books and won numerous awards. Bizarro won 'Best Panel Feature' from the National Cartoonists Society an unprecedented three consecutive years in 2002, 2003, and 2004. And he won again in 2016. Dan Piraro won 'Cartoonist of the Year' from the National Cartoonists Society in 2009. Bizarro has won multiple 'Genesis Awards from the Humane Society of the United States. Dan lives somewhere in Mexico with the love of his life, Christy, whom he affectionately calls 'Olive Oyl.'"
We asked Dan what the main goal of his illustrations is: "I got into cartooning in hopes of finding a way to make a living that didn’t make me want to jump out of a window. My cartoons are meant to make people laugh and occasionally make them think."
Dan told us how he got into art in the first place: "I have been doing some form of art virtually every day since before I can remember. Even as a 3-year-old, art was my favorite thing to do. I also played sports, explored outdoors, etc., but art was always my go-to if given a choice. Now in my 60s, I still do it every day, whether I’m being paid for it or not."
The artist tells us what topics he covers: "If I can create a joke that can be drawn, any topic is fair game unless it is vulgar, discriminatory, or violent. I have some favorite topics that I return to over and again, however: cowboys and the Old West, psychology, pets, heaven, and hell, evolution."
Dan describes his drawing style "My drawing style is fairly realistic for a cartoon and my humor style is strange. That makes me a surrealist humorist, I suppose."
"I began drawing cartoons to entertain myself when I worked at an ad agency in my early twenties. My cartoon feature, Bizarro, became syndicated when I was 27 and I’ve been publishing a joke a day ever since. That was 38 years ago and I’ve no intention of stopping anytime soon. I love my work and I love art. I’d do it even if I wasn’t getting paid."
Here is some advice to people who want to create art: "Creativity is the human species’ defining characteristic. If we are not creating something, we are not fulfilling our highest potential. It doesn’t have to be 'ART' it can be anything that you are inspired to do: cooking, gardening, carpentering, music, writing, needlework, designing, you name it. Just do it!"
