‘Rubbish’ Pet Portraits Raise More Than £8,000 For Homeless

We all know fine art is an expensive affair, but one man has managed to raise an impressive sum for charity with doodles that are so ‘rubbish,’ they’re actually great.

Phil, from West Sussex, draws ‘rubbish’ pet drawings under the alias of Hercule Van Wolfwinkle, but when he made a Facebook page and began offering commissions for a joke price of £299, he was floored when people showed genuine interest.

Instead, Phil did all of the brilliant doodles for free, sharing them with hilarious fake reviews, which received thousands of genuine likes.

One of the fake reviews read:

Tell ya what mate, why don’t you get back to me when you’ve drawn a picture of my actual dog.

‘I couldn’t take their money – the pictures are rubbish. So, I set up a Just Giving page and suggested people donate instead,’ he said.

Just five weeks after ‘Hercule’ debuted his animal art on Facebook, Phil has managed to raise almost £8,000 for Turning Tides, a homeless organisation which helps rough sleepers. Not bad for a bunch of doodles he describes as ‘rubbish,’ hey?

‘Homelessness is such an important issue, it’s a basic right for people to have a roof over the head and food in their bellies,’ he explained.

‘With cuts to services, these charities are often the last line of defence as to whether these people live or die,’ Phil added.

It turns out that the doodles have been so popular, he’s currently working his way through around 150 a week, with a huge backlog of requests coming through. One person even loved the 37-year-old’s drawing so much, they had it tattooed, for a worthy donation of £299.

Phil has now been forced to warn people that donations don’t necessarily count as a ‘payment’, as he doesn’t have time to get through them all, so it is a lottery as to whether people will get a drawing.

‘I can’t believe how it’s taken off. It’s just a bit of fun for everybody, including me. When it becomes too stressful, I’ll have to stop,’ he said.

‘But I’ll try to make as much money as I can for Turning Tides. My next goal is £10,000.’

With those drawing skills, he’ll be able to reach that goal in no time.