Katsudonno is a full-time artist and fan merchandise creator, whose journey began over 10 years ago during college. Originally trained in animation and 3D modelling, Katsu worked on indie games before transitioning fully into illustration. The introduction of “Genshin Impact” during the pandemic was a pivotal moment. For the artist, fan art and merchandise are more than expressions of passion: they’re a way to explore new ideas, push artistic skills, and build a visual library through constant experimentation.
She says sharing art online also inspires and connects with others. She believes Hoyoverse has played an important role in fostering fan creativity, citing the company’s openness to fan art, social media engagement, and events like HoYo FEST as vital touchpoints for creator recognition. We sat down with Katsu to learn about her journey, as well as her preparations for the upcoming HoYo FEST.
1. Could you tell us about how you got started in becoming a fan art merch creator?
I think it was 2014 or 2015 during college when one of my friends asked me if I wanted to join them. Because AniMangaki was open for registrations, and we were like, why not sell our art? Since we were all art students anyway. I was already drawing fan art on the side, and I’ve been attending Comic Fiesta since I was a teen. So I decided, why not make some money out of my art, and showcase my work to the world? I thought it’d just be a fun opportunity.
2. What are some of the challenges you faced when you were starting out? And how did you overcome them?
When I was starting out, I had super bad social anxiety. I could barely say hello to my customers, and my booth mates always told me, “Daphne, could you at least be friendly with people? Just smile.” But I was a bit too shy for that. After maybe two or three—actually, probably more than that—many booths later, I eventually overcame it with a bit of practice. You know, talking to customers, the typical interactions we all have. I think that helped with most of my social anxiety. Eventually, I made a bunch of friends because of boothing, so I’m kind of glad I overcame that whole shyness part.
3. What are some of the newer challenges you face nowadays as a creator?
Definitely catching up with the trends and the grind. These days, there’s this thing in sales we call “recency buyers,” where people tend to only buy merchandise of recently released characters and older ones get pushed aside. We call those “dead stock.” So, unfortunately, as creators, we have to constantly keep up with the times and keep producing new merch for every event. That eventually led to art burnout, which I almost experienced myself.
But recently, there’s been a rise in creators focusing on their own niches instead. I’ve started doing that too, with my favourite HoyoVerse characters. I don’t necessarily focus on the newest ones anymore—I stick to the ones I really like, like Dottore and Boothill, and I’ve found niche fans who appreciate that. So there are ways to overcome the pressure, but you have to find what works for you. Otherwise, you’ll hit burnout really quickly if you don’t find that balance.
4. As an artist, you must’ve experimented with different art styles over the years, so how did you settle on the one you’re known for?
I actually started years ago with a super anime-ish style. I was trying to emulate the Japanese artists on Pixiv—like everyone else—because I thought that’s what you’re supposed to do at anime cons, right? But during the pandemic, I took a step back and looked for styles I genuinely liked. It turned out I was mostly drawn to children’s illustration books and old cartoons from the ’90s. That’s why my style tends to be simpler, with the lineless art style and vibrant colours. My main focus has always been on expressions and actions because to me, that’s the most important way to show what a character is really up to.
5. How did you discover your art style? Have you taken inspiration from other creators?
Actually, there’s not one particular creator, honestly, because I was actually just looking through old children’s books I had in the past. And eventually, I did settle on a style that resonates with me, that’s like both anime-ish and also that’s like kind of chibi-ish. So I’m not sure how to answer that one. It’s a mix, honestly, of everything at this point.
6. From your Instagram, you stated that you’re a “full-time silly artist”, and on your website, you mentioned that you’re a freelance illustrator. Does that also mean you’re running this business full-time, or is this more of a side hustle?
This is currently a full-time thing now, because I used to do this as a side hustle when I had like from the day I was in college to graduation, to the time I had a job. All of this was technically a 9-5, and I had to do all of this at night, which was super tiring. So I think around two or three years ago, actually no, it was just two years ago, I decided to take the leap of faith, and I felt like my con career was getting kind of stable, and I decided, why not let’s do this as a full-time thing, you know? Take the plunge and do the cons.
7. How did your family and friends react to you pursuing freelance art full-time?
They were definitely very concerned. Like, absolutely everybody was just going, telling me, “Are you sure about this?” Yeah. But I decided, you know what?, I think I’ve been doing this like long enough, probably more than a decade of drawing fan art. And I’ve always wanted to make this into at least a permanent part of my life, hopefully. So here’s the fun part: when I was in my job, I was actually a 3D modeller. So even though it’s still arts, it’s still really different from what I normally do. And the more I 3D model every day, the more I realise, “Oh my god, this is probably not for me.”
Yeah. And I always look forward to times when I can come home and do my illustrations again. So when I finally handed in my resignation, there was just nothing. But I was a bit sad because it was honestly a dream job for me, but now I’m just like, “Oh my god, I get to draw every day all the things I’m passionate about for fun”. Like all the doubts that fretted through my mind immediately got wiped out because I’m just like, “No, I’m gonna try my best regardless to make this. I’m gonna persevere till the end.”
8. You’ve also travelled to attend anime events overseas. How long have you been doing this, and how often do you get to travel?
Oh, not that often. I’d say probably two or three times a year, depending on the budget and how much I make from the con. It heavily depends on how confident I am in the con as well, because DoKomi is one I would consider one of Europe’s biggest. That’s why I would pull in most of my budget there. But if I were to do like any other con overseas, I probably would not try. Unfortunately, I could not do the same because it is pricey. With bigger and more popular conventions, at least I get to hit like the biggest fan base, and more of the audience comes there.
9. Now let’s talk HoYoverse. How long have you been a fan of their games, and which game is your personal favourite?
I started in 2021 when “Genshin (Impact)” wrapped up the Liyue Archon Quest, just before Dragonspine was out. That’s when I first got into the game, and that became my personal favourite afterwards. I played “Honkai StarRail”, and I did give “Zenless Zone Zero” a try, but only for a very short while, because after that, the convention started going in, so I couldn’t continue. But hey, I’m now that I’m free. I’m looking forward to getting back into it. Most of my favourite characters come from “Genshin”, and I love the world of exploration. And also the character, the interaction with them and each personality is so unique to me that I absolutely love engaging with every single character from each region, especially back to Mondstadt.
10. What was your reaction when you got the call that you would be participating in HoYo FEST 2025?
Firstly, shocked. Definitely shocked because why me? I’m so grateful for this amazing opportunity because again, why me? This is honestly so cool. I get to finally go to Hoyo FEST after 2 years, but now as part of the festival. It’s like a game that I’m super passionate about for the past few years, and getting this opportunity is insane.
11. From the official announcements, what are you personally looking forward to at HoYo FEST this year?
Other than artisans, I’m not sure, actually, because I haven’t looked up much of the official announcements yet. But there’s going to be merch, I’m not sure what else will be there. Also, you know, seeing cosplayers, because I heard there’s going to be a bunch of cosplay group meetups as well. So I’m really excited. Especially if there’s going to be a Fatui cosplay group, I am there for it.
12. Which of the merch usually takes the longest to create? What are the challenges when creating that particular piece?
Okay, so I have two types of merch. One is illustrations—they take a bit of time because I need to work on the composition, figure out where all the characters are going to go, and how the colours will match harmoniously since they all have different costumes. So it’s a bit hard and takes a while for me to figure everything out—probably like a week or more. The other, more complicated merch I’ve ever made—this one took even longer than the illustrations—was Dakimakuras.
I’ve made at least two Dakimakuras of two of my favourite characters, and personally, they were the biggest challenges for me. Because, as you know, a body pillow is life-size, and you’re going to see all the details up close, so you can’t cheat any of them at all. What I did was go in-game and go insane, basically—I got every single angle of this specific character. He was an NPC as well, so I had to replay the story and go back to screenshot every single part, just to get the outfit correct. Because it has two sides as well, it took a week plus to finish because like I really wanted like to get every single part of the costume correct, especially how lovely Hoyo designed it. So, I want each part to be appreciated.
13. Have you considered straying from the original concept of the character to design something uniquely yours?
Oh, I’ve definitely considered it—yeah, a few times. That’s why I do it for other arts unless there are certain parts where I think the main design is perfect. I’m here to appreciate it, and I want to get it correct in the fan art. One day, once I finish the main one, I’ll obviously continue on with what people call this alternate universe style. You know how people love doing office AUs or school AUs? I love those! I love all the creative fan takes on how characters might be reimagined outside of their original world. So one day, I also want to try getting into that as well.
14. What’s your favourite thing about being part of the Artist Alley, not just for HoYo FEST but other conventions as well?
I would say getting to interact with fellow fans, because, you know, it’s so ironic—the first thing I was afraid of was interacting, but now it’s my favourite thing. Like, you can chat online with anybody you want these days, but talking in real life, it’s a whole different vibe, you know? And I think I really like the cute interactions with my customers, because sometimes they come in cosplaying my favourite characters—or theirs—or even in pairs sometimes, and then the pairs buy each other merch from the booth, and I’m like, this is so adorable.
These are the kinds of moments you don’t get when someone’s just buying from your online shop and all. And also, whenever I see a customer and their buying pattern, right, there’s always a certain taste in each one. I always like observing, and then when I comment like, “Oh, you really like this certain trope—like the found family trope—in your purchases,” you know, like Klee and Albedo, or Kaeya and Diluc, the whole found family thing, and then the way they talk about their favourite characters with so much passion—it’s honestly my favourite thing to watch as well.
15. As a creator, obviously, it takes a lot of time, effort and money to do what you do, so what’s your advice for those who may be considering starting their own business and be part of this community?
Just be very, very budget-conscious about your merch, like it’s okay to start out with smaller merch like prints and stickers and see where that takes you. See how well it fares at conventions. Did you find your audience through that? And if you did, that’s amazing! Because now you can take it to the next step and go on to bigger stuff like acrylics, plushies and everything else. That’s the more insane merch that people make these days, because the last thing you want is dead stock in your room, you know, like nothing’s moving at all, so always do something smooth to test out first because that’s what I did back in the day.
The post Interview: Local Artist Katsudonno On Pursuing Her Career & Taking Part In Upcoming HoYo FEST appeared first on Hype Malaysia.
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