An artist who became known for deliberately questionable drawings of people’s pets has now turned his unusual talent into more than £500,000 for charity.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!

Hercule Van Wolfwinkle might not be the name you’d immediately associate with finely detailed animal portraiture, but that’s very much the point.

The artist, whose real name is Phil Heckels, has built a huge following thanks to his unmistakable attempts at recreating people’s beloved animals, per BBC News.

While those following his work have described the portraits as “the funniest“, “great” and “cute”, Heckels has offered a rather less flattering assessment of his own creations.

He simply calls them “rubbish”.

But there is certainly nothing rubbish about what the project has achieved.

The former estate agent, who is from Worthing in West Sussex, has now smashed through the extraordinary milestone of raising more than £500,000 for charity.

And his latest fundraising effort required considerably more than sitting down with a pen and another pet picture to recreate.

In March, Heckels embarked on a mammoth 500-mile walking challenge in support of homelessness charity Turning Tides and veterinary charity StreetVet.

The challenge saw him walk from Worthing to Hove Lagoon leisure complex and back, while continuing the artwork that helped make Hercule Van Wolfwinkle such a recognisable name.

He drew one picture every day during the challenge and also called upon his followers to collectively cover another 500 miles themselves.

Finding animals to draw was never likely to be a problem.

According to Turning Tides, Heckels had around 80,000 requests waiting in his inbox from people hoping their pets might receive the Hercule Van Wolfwinkle treatment.

The physical side of the challenge was rather more demanding.

Despite facing bad weather along the way, Heckels managed to cover 20 miles per day for 25 days until he finally reached the 500-mile mark.

That particular fundraiser had brought in £32,547.28, with donations continuing to arrive.

After completing the enormous distance, Heckels opened up about just how demanding the experience had been.

He wrote on Instagram: “This has honestly been one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever done in pursuit of my fundraising.

“It’s been physicaly painful, exhausting and metally draining. But now I have finished… 500 miles.”

Turning Tides also paid tribute to Heckels following the completion of the challenge, highlighting the determination required to keep going through the more difficult stages of the walk.

A spokeswoman for the homelessness charity said: “I really have no words to express how much we admire his resilience and determination.

“We know he found several days a real struggle, but he always powered through.

“The commitment he’s shown to support our clients over the last six years is exceptional.”

That six-year commitment has now helped push Heckels beyond the remarkable £500,000 fundraising barrier.

It is an achievement made all the more unusual by the origins of the Hercule Van Wolfwinkle name: an artist whose pet portraits are celebrated precisely because they don’t necessarily look like the polished commissions people might normally expect.

Thousands upon thousands of requests suggest pet owners are more than happy to take that risk.

And while Heckels may continue describing his artwork as “rubbish”, the charitable impact behind it has become anything but.

Featured image credit: portraitsbyhercule / Instagram