Hercule Van Wolfwinkle: Worthing pet artist raises £100k for homeless

A pet portrait artist has raised £100,000 for a homeless charity with his self-confessed "rubbish" pictures.

Phil Heckels, from Worthing, West Sussex, began working under the alias Hercule Van Wolfwinkle during the 2020 lockdown.

What started as a Facebook joke soon turned viral, with tens of thousands of picture requests flooding his inbox and 100,000 social media followers.

He said: "It's completely overwhelming, and absolutely bonkers."

He drew his dog and put it on Facebook, offering paid-for commissions as a joke, but genuine requests flooded in.

The pictures are accompanied by comedy fake profiles on each pet and reviews from the 'customers', which Hercule writes himself.

His trademark wonky legs and crooked eyes proved so popular, he has become a Sunday Times best seller with a book showcasing a selection of his drawings.

Since May, he has also had an exhibition at Worthing Museum, which ends this weekend.

In May, he got his first tattoo - his pseudonym signature on his buttocks - which he publicly promised to do if he reached £75,000.

The money has gone to Turning Tides, a charity which supports rough sleepers and aims to help them out of homelessness.

"It's such a surreal amount of money, I can't get my head around it," he said.

"It's incredible to think there are people in California, Belgium and France donating to this West Sussex charity, because of these portraits."

There are no plans for Hercule to hang up his pencil, but he is looking into commercialising part of his efforts with merchandise, to see if the income would support a full or part-time job.

The estate agent said: "I'd love to be raising money permanently, and volunteering for Turning Tides, but I'm often pulling 18-hour days and it's not sustainable.

"But if this has shown me anything, it's that you're allowed to dream, and amazing things can happen."

The portraits are not directly paid for. People are invited to send Hercule a picture to draw, and have the option of donating to his charity page.

"That's what it's all about, but I'd love it if people could send over a couple of quid when they make their request, like buying a lottery ticket."

It is in fact a lottery whether people receive a drawing, as he cannot get to them all.

"I have 100,000 followers, tens of thousands of picture requests, and 6,500 donations.

"If all those followers donated £1, we'd double our total overnight," he added.

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