A British man has raised thousands of pounds for charity after his unconventional drawings of people’s pets went viral.
Phil Heckels, 38, told CNN that his rise to internet stardom began six weeks ago when he was trying to get his six-year-old son to make a thank you card for family.
He decided to draw the family dog, a black Labrador named Narla, to inspire his son, and later uploaded a photo of his work on Facebook alongside a jokey caption offering to sell it for £299 (around $390).
“It was pretty crap,” said Heckels, from Worthing, south England, who was surprised to be inundated with offers for the work.
Heckels has now made around 220 portraits.
By the end of the day he had seven requests from friends who wanted a drawing of their own pets, and within days his burgeoning reputation saw him inundated with messages and commissions.
Heckels, who works full-time in commercial real estate, then set up a dedicated Facebook page offering his services as “Hercule Van Wolfwinkle,” a pseudonym he’s been using on the social network for more than a decade.
Source: Man’s ‘crap’ pet portraits raise thousands for charity – CNN
Geo Fish 