An amateur artist is raising thousands of dollars for charity with his simplistic portraits of pets.
It started when Phil Heckels drew a picture of their family dog as a way to encourage his son to write a thank you note. He uploaded a picture of the portrait to social media calling it “crap”.
The drawing featured googly eyes and long limbs. Heckels joked he would sell it for about $390. He was inundated with offers.
Now, he says he has more than 1,000 requests waiting for him from people who want him to draw their pets.
He has drawn 240 portraits so far. Heckels, who goes by Hercule Van Wolfwinkle on his portraits, doesn’t get paid for the pictures. He asks people to donate to a charity that helps the homeless.
So far, donations from Heckels supporters have totaled more than $15,000.