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

Fake profile: 'Raymond Le Murlikes climbing up the walls, pick pocketing bystanders and smashed marmite on sourdough.'

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."

Fake profile: 'Chesney Porks likes Pat Sharp, taking a chance on counterfeit perfume from the market and practicing his French all the way home.'

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.

Fake customer review: ‘It looks like Gordon The Gopher has had some pretty tough gigs since the broom cupboard days’

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.

Fake profile: 'Patrick Grazedknee likes being in two places at once, going hell for leather on the bumper cars and selling counterfeit healing crystals round the back of Blockbuster Video'

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."

'Sebastian Skittles' fake review: ‘This chameleon won’t come and go, it will just go. Straight in the bin.’

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.

Fake profile: 'Bruce Fourthwife likes changing pace on the dance floor, designing semi-professional business cards and proving that the fortune teller in the PC World car park doesn’t always get it right.'

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."

Fake profile: 'Lee Biscuit likes organic Internet cafes, kisses that taste like sawdust and saying ‘do your worst’ down the barbers. I don’t know what the horse likes.'

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."

'Elton Long' fake customer review: ‘It’s without a doubt the most traumatic experience I’ve ever had involving art.'

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.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]