If you have been anywhere near the internet in the last few weeks, you have already met Jimothy. He is a wild raccoon in Seattle with a very short body, very long legs, and the confident walk of an animal who has no idea he is famous. A video of him crossing a lawn went up in mid July and boom! Millions of views, a mural and even an honorary degree! He even became part of Roku City!
The city of Seattle officially declared it “Jimothy Summer.” The first video that started it all was captioned "What am I looking at?" and honestly, fair question!
Wildlife experts think Jimothy was born with a rare condition called “short spine syndrome”, where the vertebrae never fully develop. It sounds alarming but by all accounts he is healthy and happy. He scurries instead of runs. He was raised to adulthood by a very patient raccoon mum who clearly did not care one bit that her kit was shaped like a medicine ball! 🦝
Of course I had to paint him!
He got the full fine art treatment, and you can watch the whole thing!
Watch me paint him, live on stream
I painted Jimothy over two of our Draw With Me streams. Part one is up on YouTube if you want to see him go from blank canvas to blocked-in raccoon shape (a very satisfying shape to block in, I will say).
Part two is where I finished him off with the fur, the whiskers and that determined little face. If you want to catch the next one live, come hang out in the chat! We stream every Thursday at 7pm ET on YouTube and Twitch, and it is a very relaxed time. I paint in Procreate, we chat about art and animals, and occasionally Woodhouse the cat meows on camera.
Will there be a print?
Yes! He turned out great and Jimothy has officially joined the shop. You can get him as an art print for your wall, a greeting card to mail to your favourite short king, or a vinyl sticker for your laptop or water bottle. 🦝
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One last thing, because it matters: Jimothy is a wild animal. Washington wildlife officials have asked people to admire him from a distance and let him live his best raccoon life, and we are very much on team leave-him-be. Paint him, celebrate him, do not feed him your sandwich.
See you Thursday! 🎨