They're nut bad! Inventive artist creates celebrities by painting on PEANUTS

What a nutter!
Artist Steve Casino's bizarre paintings of celebrities on the side of monkey nuts are worth more than just peanuts after they become salt-after work.
The inch-tall shells might look like a normal nut from the back but Mr Casino's works of art on the other side are leading to punters to shell out hundreds of pounds for them.
Mr Casino has created nut versions of Alfred Hitchcock, James Brown, Johnny Cash, Frankenstein's monster and Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols.

It's peanut's world: James Brown getting on the good foot

Live long and pistachio: Spock and Captain Kirk from the Star Trek

Time nut: Matt Smith's Doctor Who has regenerated as a peanut, and there's a peanut Dalek too

He has also made Dr Who, Wonder Woman, Andy Warhol, Spock from Star Trek, Batman, Elton John and Count Dracula on the inch-high legumes.
Mr Casino makes the creations by sanding down the surface of a monkey nut and using a miniscule brush to painstakingly apply acrylic paint, a process that can take up to 10 hours.
Arms, legs, and props are then created from wood, bamboo or dense foam and pushed into the shell to complete the models.

 

Each finished design costs between 200 and 330 pounds to buy depending on how complex it is.
Mr Casino, 46, a toy inventor from Ohio, U.S., said: 'One day I was eating peanuts and noticed one that was sort of shaped like me.
'So I drew a little cartoon of myself on it with a pen and showed it to my friend who laughed at it.

Super peanut: Wonder Woman, whose catchphrase was 'Stop a bullet cold, make the Axis fold. Change their minds and change the world!'

Hard nuts: Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols

Licence to crack nuts: James Bond likes his peanut butter crunchy, not smooth

'After drawing that first peanut I got a vision of making all of the Ramones but I ran out of steam after painting Joey.
'I spend a lot of time finding a peanut that is the right shape for the person I'm making, then I remove the nuts, glue it back together, and prepare one side for painting.
'I'll look through references to inspire me then make a final portrait, which is a mix of many photos and my own mental warping.

Film nut: When it came to thrillers, Hollywood great Alfred Hitchcock was the nuts

Peanut man: Singer songwriter Elton John tinkling the ivories

Punk nutters: The Ramones, fronted by Joey Ramone

'After sketching the features on the peanut, I paint it with acrylics and usually add arms, hair, and props like a guitar.
'I am going down a list of people I want to paint.
'I don't know how I get precise results because I have the stubbiest of fingers, I hold my breath a lot while I paint the tiny lines and avoid drinking coffee while I'm working.'

Peanut in black: Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash

Andy Warhol, or Andy Walnut?