How did you become an artist?

I became an artist at a really young age. Coloring every coloring book that I could get my little hands on. All the way to creating my own comic book characters and stories as a teen. I studied as much as I could regardless of lack of internet ( I just dated myself :D) but I was determined to become a professional artist and do what I love for a living.

Where do you get inspiration?

I was inspired to become an artist as a child by the movie Tron. I had seen many other amazing films prior to that, but the CGI, design and color contrast, struck a cord with my imagination and started my journey to learn how that film was done and I've been lucky and extremely thankful to be able to do art for a living. Today, I get my inspiration from a little bit of everything. From movies, photos, artist of all styles, video games. Comics like The Crow, Spawn, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Cartoons like Transformers, Silverhawks, M.A.S.K, Thundercats, Masters Of The Universe, She-Ra and GI Joe are still inspirational for me today.

What’s your hardware setup?

My current hardware setup is a Maingear / AMD Ryzen 7 1700X Eight Core Processor 3.40 GHZ and 32GB of Ram. I'm also using a Wacom 22HD Touch Cintiq for drawing and my secondary monitor is the Samsung C27F591 with the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 Graphics Card.

What do you like best about Clip Studio Paint?

It's difficult to choose a best feature about Clip Studio Paint, when I use so many of the great features in my current daily workflow. I'm a huge fan of the Gel Pen tool and use that as my exclusive tool when doing line art on every single piece that I do. I use the 3D Character Modeling Tool for posing from time to time, it's a big help for pushing camera angles. Finally, I love using the Oil and Gouache brushes to break up textures with digitally painting in Clip Studio Paint.

How long does it take you to make a single illustration?

As far as duration on my illustrations, timing varies, but on average it can take 12-16 hours on standard pieces. Some of my more demanding detailed pieces can take 2-3 weeks and some pieces have taken as much as a month from start to finish.

Would you consider Clip Studio Paint an industry tool?

I would absolutely consider Clip Studio Paint an industry tool, as it's used daily in a variety of tasks from sketch all the way through to completion on a regular basis.

Are there any other experiences/learnings/message that you'd like to share?

One of the lessons that I have learned from so many amazing creative individuals is to never be complacent and to all push to learn new techniques and tools when possible. It's one of the main reasons that I try so many different styles in my art today.

How can we be more supportive of our fellow artists (as colleagues/fans/friends)? I feel with amazing support like this it helps in so many ways. Giving creatives the ability to share our stories and experiences is truly a powerful way to connect us all.

Has the Pandemic created challenges in your profession as an artist?

The pandemic unfortunately has taken a massive toll on not just my trade shows but the entire industries, such as San Diego Comic Con, Powercon and Wondercon to name a few. I've had to find new creative ways for stability. One of them will be the launching of my online print store starting on August 14th on my site, as I will be revealing the first round of prints shortly before that across my main art site and social media. Also be partnering with San Diego State Universities-Minors in Cultural Proficiency, in online drawing courses with enrollment starting in the week of July 20th. Both of these ventures are new territory for me but I couldn't be more excited for the next chapter in my career.

Where can we follow your work?

My work can be followed @tonywashingtonart on Instagram, @twashingtonart on twitter and for my music it's @stationsstories on Instagram / Twitter and Stationsstories.com and Tonywashingtonart.com