Yadollah Derakhshani learned the basics of painting from Jafar Petgar. In his hometown, Semnan, he was employed by the Ministry of Education (1965) and he was also a painting instructor at the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Adolescents in Semnan. Then he completed a bachelor's degree in painting at Tehran College of Fine Arts (1968-1972). Derakhshani had also designed and constructed several squares and green spaces in the cities of Shahrood, Sorkheh, Sangsar and Garmsar in Iran.