If you had to describe Henderson Yan’s work with just one word, it would be fun.
“I want my work to give people the same feeling that I get when I'm making them: a sense of warmth and silliness.”
Henderson has a very unique custom sketch style for pet portraits. It exudes a warm nostalgic feel, almost like your pet was taken straight out of a storybook.
Order your very own custom sketch style pet portrait here!
Heavily inspired by pop-culture, Henderson’s work is nostalgic, familiar, playful - like Saturday morning cartoons. Like those cartoons, it’s difficult to be bored when viewing Henderson’s art. Images of a chainsaw man, a ramen-eating Gengar, or a savagely hungry, homicidal chicken demand your attention.
“Growing up online as an introvert, you absorb a lot of pop culture from YouTube.”
Looking at Henderson’s hand-sketched works makes you feel like you’re back in 6th grade biology, totally blowing off the class so you can instead focus on your doodling in your notebook. You felt bigger, faster, more badass. You escaped the class for a few minutes while your imagination found cooler things to do.
How can you not feel all the fun parts of youth when looking at detailed sketches of superheroes, street sharks, dragons, robots, and all things fantastical and awesome? You can’t, that’s how.
Going back to childhood, Henderson naturally gravitated towards the pencil.
“Pokemon was one of the first things I grew up drawing. My mom have me a book on Pokemon art and I thought, ‘let me try drawing it.’”
Of course, to relegate Henderson’s work to mere doodles would be insulting. This man is an educated artist and full-time graphic designer and illustrator. This guy is a professional.
After graduating from Drexel’s Digital Animation department in 2016, Henderson moved out to California to pursue his craft full time and, you know, actually make money. There isn't anything romantic about being the starving artist.
“My mom encouraged me to find a career that would generate income. Illustration or graphic design was the best option.”
Henderson does both.
But can he draw dogs?
“Growing up, a lot of my art classes were painting dogs. I drew dogs a lot.”
Well, that answers that. Take a look at the work he’s created of his own dog, Korra. As in ‘Legend of.’
Korra is the extrovert Henderson never knew he needed.
“She wants to play and nothing else. It’s funny for an introvert because it’s the opposite of what I want. It forces me to go outside.”
Perhaps Korra took a look at Henderson’s artwork and knew that his personality needed to be shared with the world. Dogs always know.
“I love being able to share that passion and love for pets that Char and Whiskers has.”
It’s because of Henderson’s fun, playful style that has brought him to Char and Whiskers. His talent, style, and love for animals makes him a beautiful fit. There’s a lot of synergy here. Good vibes and whatnot, ya know?
