Do you know how dancers start their mornings? They warm up. I do the same. Years ago, I started making small drawings of bugs. I never expect - ed those drawings to become a signifi - cant part of my life. I find them crawling, buzzing around, and generally being productive everywhere. All my friends send me photos of bugs. Just hashtag #shoostybugs on any platform, and I will do my best to see them. Bugs are small, allowing me to finish small exper - iments in a few minutes or I can work as elaborately as I want. Some of my work takes months to refine. Bugs are miraculously adaptable. They come in every color, survive ad - verse conditions, thrive in debris, fly, dig, hunt, mate, give birth, manage complex civilizations, pollinate the world, and spread disease, all while displaying a beauty that defies imagination. My approach to making bugs is not just about nature but also art history. I me - ticulously create examples of patterns from around the world and then paint the bugs with these patterns. Each bug I draw challenges me to find something new; this combination of joy and discov - ery keeps me intensely engaged. I call myself a vector painter. It took the advent of the iPad Pro to free me from my desk. Untethered in a comfortable chair or waiting for an appointment, I can retain productivity throughout the day. Vector painting combines mathe - matical precision with artistic expres - sion, resulting in visually striking and infinitely-scalable professional artwork. Everything about my environment is made for productivity. Digital ink does not spill. The iPad never runs out of paint, I have an unlimited digital color palette, and it has precision-designed tools to provide a quality experience
that keeps updating. My physical studio is also highly organized, with oil paints set up like an art store and empty sketch pages loaded in my backpack. Wherever I go, I draw, especially at music events and museums. When I am touring the goal is two drawings per day. At my best I will merge the daytime drawings with the night, combining mu - sic with art history. Digital Leap: Switching to iPad Pro in 2016 doubled my artistic output, which has continued to grow exponen - tially. This surge is documented in my comprehensive Catalogue Raisonné (a rare feat for an artist to create them - selves!), encompassing works from 1958 to 2023. It’s a remarkable record and a personal time machine. In my digital work, I gravitate toward vectors for many reasons, but the main reason is control. Vectors are dots on an invisible grid. They are pin-sharp, OCD heaven; they allow me to approach my art like a jeweler. What I do with them is a form of precision engineering. With just a few vector points, I can create a complex flowing line, formed to perfec - tion, and then repeat it effortlessly. The tools I use are evolving rapidly. It is hard to keep up with all the new apps and features. I go out of my way to find the edges of these applications, practicing every day. I will never run out of opportunities to learn. I have a sim- ple goal for education: to move from Swiss Cheese to Muenster—big gaps in thinking to small gaps. No one can be an expert in everything. I like to work with other people, especial - ly engineers, artists and gallerists. Hir - ing an expert for a short-term project is easy in today’s gig economy.
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