Featured Artist: TakedaArt

If you’ve ever found yourself admiring art and thinking, “it’s nice, but it could really use a cat in it” then you will appreciate this week’s Featured Artist TakedaArt! The adorable store is packed full of chubby cats in every form — from cats eating cookies to slurping ramen — and it is sure to put a pawsitive spin on your day. TakedaArt admits that he often finds himself looking at a design and imagining “how it might look with the addition of a cat” which led to the creation of his distinctive “whimsical chubby cat” and the signature style that brightens his storefront. So, grab hold of one of those chubby paws today and join TakedaArt with a cat-inspired design!

TakedaArt, or Lee Heng Tah, is a 30-year-old artist living and working in Penang, Malaysia who enjoys anime art from Studio Ghibli, video games, and comic books. Lee shares that he is a “self-proclaimed cat person” and jokes that his creative process is often thinking “how do I put cats in something and make it look interesting.” He admits that finding the idea for new art is easy, but that implementing “it into a tangible piece of art” is more difficult. However, if he is having difficulty purr-fecting one of his creative projects then he says, “immersing myself in other forms of media, such as video games or anime, can often help me come up with workable ideas for my art.”

TakedaArt’s greatest achievement (so far!) is being featured on DBH; he shares that “as a relatively unknown artist, it's incredibly meaningful to me every time someone purchases one of my designs.” He enjoys trying “new things and experimenting with new style[s] and technique[s]” and he hopes that his art evolves over time and he is able to expand his audience. He encourages other artists with “keep doing what you're good at, continue to improve yourself, and above all, don't give up, that is often the toughest hurdle to overcome.” To him, true creativity is about “not being afraid to fail” when he tries something new.