Meet Ben Ross, a graphic artist whose DNA must be completely comprised of win. We dig this guy’s work so much that we don’t want to meet Ben Ross … we want to be him. His work is just that danged cool.

That’s Ben, below, getting batted on the noggin by his kitty, Littles. Only an artist who loves whimsical things would post such an animated portrait on his Tumblr blog.

So why are we so smitten by his work?

We mentioned whimsy, and Ben’s numerous projects sport that in spades. Perhaps his most delightful project is “Flying Pizza Kitty,” a series of charming 8-bit-style animated gifs that chronicle the adventures of an orange (presumably) tabby cat who zips around the world on a flying carpet. The tail-swishing critter has no time for love, Dr. Jones: he’s on the move, flying the Star Wars Death Star trench run, chasing nommy Pac-Man-style creatures, and more.

Dig these animations, where Flying Pizza Kitty meets pro wrestler Hulk Hogan, and destroys a familiar moon-sized space station:

Flying Pizza Kitty is just one of Ben’s projects, however. He’s also behind the cheerful “hi’ya bunny!” project, which features animated gifs of waving bunnies … because “waving bunnies are the best kind.” Here are two of our favorites:

In addition to Flying Pizza Kitty and hi’ya bunny, Ben has a few other projects, including Eat Sleep Draw (a reader-generated public art gallery) and The MTA Sux (another place where the community provides the site’s content — in this case, airing frustrations about New York City’s public transportation).

Be sure to check out Ben’s site for links to his projects, and if you dig his work, be sure to contact him! It’s not every day you encounter folks whose work is desgined to be nearly-exclusively cheerful, and we bet he’d dig your feedback.

Mined by: J.C. “Will We See A Flying Pizza LOL Kitty?” Hutchins, via Laughing Squid