While others would likely toss banana peels away, the Dutch former graphic designer sees them as a blank canvas for “fruit doodles” – intricately detailed drawings done with toothpicks, a knife and ballpoint pen.
Brusche began his foray into banana art , almost by accident. Encouraged to use Instagram by his wife but unsure what to post, he came across an abandoned banana in his office and decided to draw a smiley face on it.
From those humble beginnings, Brusche has transformed his personal brand into , an with more than 70,000 followers.
He draws figures from popular culture (hello, Banana Marilyn), animals and quirky cartoon characters – even the more pared-back designs are injected with a sense of heart and humour, because, after all, they’re bananas.
While others would likely toss banana peels away, the Dutch former graphic designer sees them as a blank canvas for “fruit doodles” – intricately detailed drawings done with toothpicks, a knife and ballpoint pen.
In an interview with , Brusche that surprisingly, “banana peels are pretty excellent to draw on with a ballpoint pen. It just flows across the banana”.
He’s since gone on to quit his job as a graphic designer in order to pursue iSteef full time.
While Brusche may be the first one to trademark his ‘fruit-doodling’ tendencies, he’s certainly not the only artist out there using fruit as a medium.
Remember , the Armenian fashion student creating stunning illustrations out of watermelon slices and mandarin sections?
Or , the “smoothie bowl artist” using fruit and flowers to ‘draw’ gallery-worthy renderings of animals, movie characters and famous artworks?
Here are a few more of our favourite fruit artists:
, a Sydney-based Italian carving baroque masterpieces into avocados and watermelons.
Instagram account , AKA Danling Xiao, turning the everyday into the extraordinary with serious sculpture skills and clever photography.
And, finally, , the Japanese artist who is better at carving fruits and vegetables than most people are at eating them.
Brusche and the rest of these food artists are a testament to thinking outside the box.
The next time you’re feeling inspired, take a walk down to your nearest fruit and veg aisle – who knows what you could create?
