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 is getting the full fine art treatment, and you can watch it happen live!
Watch me paint him, live on stream
I started Jimothy last Thursday on our Draw With Me stream. Part one is up on YouTube right now 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 streams this Thursday at 7pm ET, where I will be finishing him. Fur, whiskers, that determined little face. 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?
We will see how he turns out! If Jimothy does join the shop, newsletter folks hear about it first, always. That is the deal. You can sign up at the bottom of this page.
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! 🎨