An adorable pet rat went viral recently after painting a teeny tiny watercolour creation all by himself, using just his feet.
Darius the rat, who belonged to art student Amalie Markota Andersen, made his first painting in January 2018 and never looked back.
His creations have inspired animal lovers all over the internet since pictures of him standing proudly by them went viral once more on Saturday (September 21).
The photos – which showed tiny Darius both in the midst of his creation and then afterwards – were shared by a now-private account over the weekend, but before that the rat’s handiwork was documented on Tumblr.
Amalie, a 22-year-old animation and digital arts student from Askim, Norway, proudly posted about her pet’s achievements on her account, writing that he completed his first painting at the beginning of last year.
The student told INSIDER:
When I had Darius, I got a non-toxic watercolour set, dipped his little hands and feet in it and just let him walk back and forth on the paper until it started to look like something.
The Tumblr post went unexpectedly viral overnight, with the student saying it’s what he deserved before adding: ‘Darius going viral was very exciting, I was so happy people liked him.’
After his viral fame, Amalie decided to let Darius create more paintings, each of which took the rat approximately 10 minutes to create. The 22-year-old explained how she went on to commission around three or four of his originals, using the money to buy her pet a new harness so he could explore the outdoors safely.
She explained how she now regrets selling the original work ‘a little bit’, as Darius sadly passed away earlier this year. However, she said it makes her ‘very happy’ to know his works are out there somewhere – ‘hopefully still intact and well’.
Amalie adopted Darius in 2017 at an unknown age, although it was assumed he was old. She described her pet rat as ‘timid and shy’ and cuddly ‘like a little baby’.
The student said their time together was extremely impactful for her, particularly because she adopted him at a ‘weird time’ in her life when she was trying to figure out who she was as a person. ‘He was my light in the darkness, if you will,’ Amalie explained.
She says she will be ‘forever infinitely thankful’ to him for the impact he had, not only on her but ‘the thousands of people who fell in love with him and his little painting’.
Rest in peace, Darius.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).