He became a hogen (priest of the second highest rank) at the age of 33 in 1762, an okueshi (prestigious official painter) in the following year, and an oishinami in 1773, which made his generation the first in the Takekawacho family to be an okueshi.
宝暦12年（1762年）33歳で法眼、翌年奥絵師を仰せつけられ、安永2年（1773年）には御医師並となって、竹川町家は典信の代で初めて奥絵師となった。