A Herculean House Competition

I first discovered Hercule during the first coronavirus lockdown when I tuned in to BBC Breakfast. It was a story that featured an ordinary dad, Phil Heckels, who had tried to encourage his son to draw by drawing a portrait of their own black Labrador. I am a huge fan of both pets and art, so this caught my eye. Before long, I saw him appearing on social media under his alias, Hercule van Wolfwinkle, and began to follow his page as his reputation took off. To read his story visit herculevanwolfwinkle.com

Having followed him for more than a year and as the newly appointed Head of Houses, I had an idea for a fun House competition and sent him a message about Farleigh pupils drawing their pets in the style of ‘Hercule van Wolfwinkle’. I cheekily asked if he would send us a recorded video wishing them good luck and giving a little bit of advice on how to draw like him. Of course, I didn’t think he would actually reply but, lo and behold, a few days later there was a message in my inbox from Hercule!

You can see the wonderful video he sent in the link below. He was also very keen to see some of the portraits from the pupils, so watch this space for appearances on his social media. Since the launch there have been some fantastic entries and the pupils are really capturing his style well. It’s going to be extremely hard to pick the winners…

Victoria Rogerson, Head of Science & Head of Houses


Please see the video from Hercule Van Wolfwinkle on our Instagram page here