Browsing the art that makes up dready’s world is like being wrapped in a warm embrace. From the quirky stick figures to the effortlessly cool characters who ride around in vintage cars, surf the ocean waves, and party on the beach, Shane ‘dready’ Aquârt’s digital art captures a carefree, laid back lifestyle that is synonymous with the Caribbean.

As a style, dready has become instantly recognisable and something of an international phenomenon – he most recently exhibited in Dubai and receives commissions from around the world – but it all started with a doodle. Back when Aquârt was working in sales and marketing project management, he used to draw a stick figure man in red, yellow, and green, whose bendy body suggested he was perpetually dancing.

His own itinerant upbringing – he lived in the Caribbean, England, Miami, and Canada before settling in Cayman – no doubt coloured his view of the world and enabled him to capture the spirit of this region in a unique way

When a colleague suggested he could commercialise the drawings, he had the doodle converted into graphic form. Then, with the help of an advertising agency, the red, yellow, and green colours – emblematic of Rastafarianism, Jamaican, and Caribbean culture in general – and the skin tones were formalised and printed onto postcards, T-shirts, coffee cups, and more.

“Originally dready was a character in the art, and then because the style was so distinctive it became a ‘style’ of art,” Aquârt says. “And now it incorporates all that and me as well… I have become dready.”

Although he started out drawing by hand, these days the artist draws straight onto the computer. It means his studio is wherever he may be. While it’s a departure from the conventional concept of how artists work, it’s no less artistic. 

“The computer programme is just the medium. It’s the paint and pencil and brush and canvas that I use,” he explains. “The computer doesn’t draw for me. The entire creative skill and imagination are mine. 

Initially, dready resided in a quintessentially Caribbean world, doing very Caribbean things, but then the artist began to receive requests to put dready into his clients’ worlds. Now dready and friends take road trips through Scotland, ride horses in Texas, skateboard in LA (The Twins), and whole families are rendered in stick figure form (Easy Skankin’). Work, he says, has a habit of leading to creativity, and the commissions provide inspiration for more artworks.

Over time, the original stick figures, drawn in a style he calls ‘faux primitive’, have morphed into ‘evolved dreadys’ whose style is more a mix of pop and poster art. While still simple figures, with faces that are largely featureless – save for a beard or a pair of sunglasses – these filled-out characters are uncannily realistic. Louche, barefoot, and casually dressed in open shirts and rolled up pants, or retro bikinis, it is partly their insouciance and partly their very real gestures and stances that make them so appealing.

Whether it is a tennis player taking a breather in One Love, a surfer riding a wave in
Casa Love Surfer Girl, or bowler and batsman in action in Over the Wicket, it is Aquârt’s
ability to capture lifelike movements and mannerisms that are part of his genius.

Sometimes, as in 3 Amigos or I forgot all that I knew of gravity, his subjects are real people; the couple – he bearded, she with long blond hair – on the other hand, could be generously rendered versions of himself and his partner. “It’s more their vibe than their reality,” Aquârt says, “as they are a mash-up of several ideas and feelings.” Real or not, these evolved dreadys seem familiar, like people you might know or have seen around.

But it is also the fun, whimsical details – the ones you have to search for – that pull you into dready’s world. In almost every piece, tiny details in his signature red, yellow, and green make a subtle appearance, maybe as beads decorating a Land Rover Defender aerial in South Coast Drive, worn around a wrist, or decorating clothing.

 Chickens and goats are frequent secondary characters, often looking out from the picture – like a wink to the viewer – while the main protagonists are otherwise occupied. And then there are the bottles of Red Stripe, casually left on the floor or dangling from fingertips, seemingly reminding us to slow down, relax, and not take life too seriously.

Following dready’s 2013 show at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands, where his Cayman Panorama stretched from floor to ceiling and 360 degrees around, he recalls someone describing it as ‘like being in a room full of happiness’.  

Although he is reluctant to say that he is one of life’s optimists, he will admit he’s never drawn a dready that didn’t make him smile. And that’s what makes dready art so likeable. It’s all about good vibes. Like a feel-good movie or an uplifting piece of music, Aquârt’s art is a joyful escape into a world filled with sunshine and fun, where the good times roll and there is only pleasure to be pursued.