Phil Heckels

Hercule Van Wolfwinkle is the inimitable genius behind ‘Portraits By Hercule’ a viral fundraising campaign which has raised over £100,000 for charity, and seen requests for pet portraits flooding into Hercule’s inbox in their tens of thousands from all over the globe. 

Hercule’s self-proclaimed ‘ultra-realistic’ style, coupled with his hilarious animal biographies and fake customer reviews have led to a huge social media following and worldwide media coverage.

In 2020 he was recognised by the Prime Minister with a Points of Light Award and has been named by The Big Issue as one of their 100 Change Makers for 2021 (A list of innovators, creators and radical thinkers that we believe will be doing remarkable things to make the world a better place for others). Hercule’s work has been exhibited publicly and his first book Rubbish Pet Portraits was a Sunday Times Best Seller. 

Away from the fundraising, the drawing and writing, Hercule loves spending time with his wife and son and the family dog, Narla.