{"id":808627,"date":"2023-02-10T15:19:56","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T22:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/?p=804867"},"modified":"2023-09-11T10:54:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T17:54:13","slug":"combining-art-and-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/combining-art-and-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Combining art and music into futuristic storytelling with Tony Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"et_d4_element et_pb_section et_pb_section_0  et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode et_section_regular et_block_section\" >\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_d4_element et_pb_row et_pb_row_0  et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode et_block_row\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_d4_element et_pb_column_4_4 et_pb_column et_pb_column_0  et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode et-last-child et_block_column\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_text et_pb_text_0  et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><p>You may already know the charming and always-smiling artist <a href=\"https:\/\/tonywashingtonart.artstation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tony Washington<\/a> from visiting his table at Artists\u2019 Alley at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Diego Comic-Con<\/a>, at which he\u2019s been a regular attendee and exhibitor since 1995. Or maybe you're familiar with his extensive, award-winning <a href=\"https:\/\/tonywashingtonart.artstation.com\/resume\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">creative resume<\/a>, which stretches from concept art to illustration to coloring to matte painting.<\/p>\n<p>But you may not be aware that he\u2019s got a knack for music production as well, and has recently launched a project called <a href=\"https:\/\/songwhip.com\/stationsstories\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stations Stories<\/a>, which combines both of his talents into a fantastic alternative rock\/electronica\/sci-fi adventure. Tony gives us a glimpse into his creative process in the below video, in which he uses his Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 and Wacom Intuos Pro tablet to create both music and visuals.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_video et_pb_video_0\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_video_box\"><iframe title=\"Combining Art and Music into Futuristic Storytelling: Tony Washington and Stations Stories\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Vnhr57Bsnvs?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_text et_pb_text_1  et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><p>Tony grew up in a very eclectic musical household; his parents shared a wide variety of music with him and his siblings, from rock to jazz to R&amp;B. Seeing that he had an interest in music, his parents purchased a Casio SK-1 keyboard to nurture his enthusiasm and further develop his skills, which Tony took a liking to immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI nearly played the keys off of that thing,\u201d he jokes. Shortly after receiving this gift, Tony added to his instrument collection. First with a Yamaha KeyTar -- a lightweight synthesizer\/keyboard worn by a strap around the neck and shoulders, which is played almost like a guitar -- and then with an actual bass guitar.<\/p>\n<p>Tony got serious with music composition as a teen; by 15 he was recording music, and in his final years in high school he had to decide whether he wanted to attend college for music or art. He decided to pursue art and, at 18, joined the summer program at the California Institute of the Arts.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, Tony has continued to write music and perform in different bands in his hometown of San Diego, CA. \u201cMy love for music production will never fade,\u201d he says. \u201cI often use my music to inspire my art and vice-versa. I started a project in my late 20s titled Stations Stories, which is a sci-fi concept that combines both my art and music disciplines into one futuristic storytelling idea.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_image et_pb_image_0 et_pb_image_sticky\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"et_pb_image_wrap \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/Tony-Washington-Studio-with-Wacom-Cintiq-Pro.jpeg\" alt=\"Tony Washington Studio with Wacom Cintiq Pro\" title=\"Tony Washington Studio with Wacom Cintiq Pro\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/Tony-Washington-Studio-with-Wacom-Cintiq-Pro.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/Tony-Washington-Studio-with-Wacom-Cintiq-Pro-980x551.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/Tony-Washington-Studio-with-Wacom-Cintiq-Pro-480x270.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" class=\"wp-image-809958\" \/><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_text et_pb_text_2  et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><p>\u201cI build my music and art concepts using both analog and digital tools to enable endless creations. Just like my sketches in art, the wavelengths in my music work are the same, almost giving me a sense of scale and even style in the way that they are shaped into the environments that I envision. Having the ability to use the same stylus across all my Wacom devices is key to keeping the creative process seamless,\" he says.<\/p>\n<p>\"Music, art, books, and even locations all play a key part in my creative process, as I continue to build and refine my art and music alike. Having the incredible opportunity to work anywhere further empowers limitless creativity, as I immerse myself into each piece of audio and visual content that I do, as the worlds that I create in musical and digital art begin to take shape into their final form.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_video et_pb_video_1\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_video_box\"><iframe title=\"Tony Washington Art 2023 Demo Reel\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UN1-loj4Mo8?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_text et_pb_text_3  et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><h2>Behind The Scenes of Tony\u2019s Creative Process<\/h2>\n<p>Tony creates both music and art, and each has similar but slightly different processes. How does he do it?<\/p>\n<h3>Music<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Step 1: Production<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I use the touch controls on my Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 to set up instruments and adjust settings, so I can play on my hardware midi controllers. The vibrant and sharp screen is perfect for adjusting my timeline canvas and arranging my samples.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 2: Mixing and Mastering<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I move to mixing and mastering, the Cintiq and Intuos Pro\u2019s touch controls are very intuitive. This makes my process fluid and saves tons of time, allowing more creativity -- compared to sliding though tons of windows and hot keys.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_image et_pb_image_1 et_pb_image_sticky\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"et_pb_image_wrap \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/The-arch-by-Tony-Washington.jpeg\" alt=\"The-arch by Tony Washington\" title=\"The-arch by Tony Washington\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/The-arch-by-Tony-Washington.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/The-arch-by-Tony-Washington-980x551.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/The-arch-by-Tony-Washington-480x270.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" class=\"wp-image-809959\" \/><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_text et_pb_text_4  et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><h3>Art<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Step 1: Shapes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>All of my matte paintings start with shapes and silhouettes. Using the incredible 4K resolution of my <a href=\"https:\/\/estore.wacom.com\/en-US\/wacom-cintiq-pro-24-dtk2420k0.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wacom Cintiq Pro 24<\/a>, I can quickly draw in sharp, contrasting colors, as I layer and stack elements for pre-production, before moving to textures and rendering.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 2: Textures<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With my shapes finalized, I can move to rendering and textures. I try to reference images that I\u2019m applying mattes to for easier compositing when available. But overall, I try to push a unified light along with ambient light, to help give volume to each building and the scene.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 3: Completed Rendering and Textures<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I fine-tune all of my textures and rendering and compress my layers, so the file can be added into my brother's working file for final compositing and color correction. The large ultra high-resolution display on the Cintiq is pivotal in every aspect of the mattes that I create.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 4: Depth of Field<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Then, color correction and blurred depth of field are applied, to bring home the imagery of the matte painting. This finalized image would be used for final animation!<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_d4_element et_pb_row et_pb_row_1  et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode et_block_row\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_d4_element et_pb_column_4_4 et_pb_column et_pb_column_1  et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode et-last-child et_block_column\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_divider et_pb_divider_0 et_pb_divider_position_center et_pb_space\"><div class=\"et_pb_divider_internal\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_with_border et_d4_element et_pb_row et_pb_row_2 et_pb_equal_columns et_pb_gutters1  et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode et_block_row\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_d4_element et_pb_column_1_4 et_pb_column et_pb_column_2  et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode et_block_column\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_image et_pb_image_2 et_pb_image_sticky\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"et_pb_image_wrap \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/Tony-Washington.jpeg\" alt=\"Tony-Washington\" title=\"Tony-Washington\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/Tony-Washington.jpeg 512w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/02\/Tony-Washington-480x720.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 512px, 100vw\" class=\"wp-image-809960\" \/><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div><ul class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_social_media_follow et_pb_social_media_follow_0 clearfix  et_pb_text_align_center et_pb_bg_layout_light\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<li\n            class='et_d4_element et_pb_social_media_follow_network_0 et_pb_social_icon et_block_module et_pb_social_network_link  et-social-youtube et_pb_social_media_follow_network'><a href=\"https:\/\/music.youtube.com\/browse\/UCGKKQZurso7PAIRoUcrkvLg\" class=\"icon et_pb_with_border\" title=\"Follow on Youtube\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span\n                class='et_pb_social_media_follow_network_name'\n                aria-hidden='true'\n                >Follow<\/span><\/a><\/li><li\n            class='et_d4_element et_pb_social_media_follow_network_1 et_pb_social_icon et_block_module et_pb_social_network_link  et-social-facebook et_pb_social_media_follow_network'><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Tonywashingtonart\/\" class=\"icon et_pb_with_border\" title=\"Follow on Facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span\n                class='et_pb_social_media_follow_network_name'\n                aria-hidden='true'\n                >Follow<\/span><\/a><\/li><li\n            class='et_d4_element et_pb_social_media_follow_network_2 et_pb_social_icon et_block_module et_pb_social_network_link  et-social-twitter et_pb_social_media_follow_network'><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/twashingtonart\" class=\"icon et_pb_with_border\" title=\"Follow on X\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span\n                class='et_pb_social_media_follow_network_name'\n                aria-hidden='true'\n                >Follow<\/span><\/a><\/li><li\n            class='et_d4_element et_pb_social_media_follow_network_3 et_pb_social_icon et_block_module et_pb_social_network_link  et-social-instagram et_pb_social_media_follow_network'><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tonywashingtonart\/\" class=\"icon et_pb_with_border\" title=\"Follow on Instagram\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span\n                class='et_pb_social_media_follow_network_name'\n                aria-hidden='true'\n                >Follow<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_d4_element et_pb_column_3_4 et_pb_column et_pb_column_3  et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode et-last-child et_block_column\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_module et_d4_element et_pb_text et_pb_text_5  et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><h4>About Tony Washington<\/h4>\n<p>After showing his <a href=\"https:\/\/tonywashingtonart.artstation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">impressive portfolio<\/a> at the 1995 San Diego Comic-Con, Tony was hired by <a href=\"https:\/\/imagecomics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Comics<\/a>, where he had his first encounter with digital art.<\/p>\n<p>For over 20 years, Tony has successfully freelanced in multiple worlds: comic books, films, concept art, and even animation. He worked on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/series\/245410-world-of-warcraft-wildstorm-dc-comics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the highest-selling World of Warcraft comic book series<\/a>, designed promotional poster concepts for Lady Gaga\u2019s Monster Ball Tour, did concept art for several Sony PS3 titles, and worked on the <a href=\"https:\/\/hearthstone.blizzard.com\/en-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hearthstone card game<\/a>. He will be releasing all-new music and companion art for Stations Stories, as well as a new single and album, in 2023!<\/p>\n<p>You can stream Tony\u2019s music on a variety of platforms including <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/27z7mvPYH1meXhUdf46ubU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pandora.com\/artist\/stations-stories\/ARnPXcmxb3wZvv6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pandora<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/music.youtube.com\/browse\/UCGKKQZurso7PAIRoUcrkvLg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube Music<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/us\/artist\/stations-stories\/315756628\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Music<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/artists\/B0029LMLIW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon Music<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/listen.tidal.com\/artist\/4556011\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tidal<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How artist and musician Tony Washington uses Wacom Intuos Pro and Cintiq Pro to streamline and electrify his creativity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":809956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2318,2317],"tags":[152,266,91,676],"class_list":["post-808627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative-inspiration","category-digital-drawing-painting","tag-art","tag-digital-art","tag-illustration","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}