I discovered I have chromesthesia (hearing music in colors) around the end of high school. After much testing, I’ve narrowed down my specific subset of chromesthesia: timbre to color. Timbre is the quality of sound from an instrument, different from pitch and intensity. Every instrument produces a different timbre, even if they place the exact same piece of music. A saxophone sounds very different from a violin, even if they both play C.
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Songs are composed of many different instruments and textures, and each one is a complex landscape, animating itself over time. It’s very difficult to portray a time-based medium in two dimensional form, but my drive to capture what I see pushes me attempt it, in many different ways.

Over the last 5 years, I have drawn, sketched, painted, and illustrated songs, trying to match what I see in my head when I hear music. I have experimented with lots of different mediums, starting with colored pencil on white paper, then moving to markers and pens. Eventually, I discovered chalk pastels and black paper, the combination of which produces the most accurate depiction of music. Acrylic paint also works well, and although I can mix colors exactly right, it’s much messier to layer parts together.
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Here is a collection of my favorite drawings of songs and vocals I’ve done over the last few years. Some are taken from my bedroom wall, and some were painted specifically  for this project. All are more or less accurate; there is always room for improvement and iteration.
I will painting music for the rest of my life, trying to get it exactly right. If there’s a song or artist you’d like to see painted, tweet suggestions at @WiredWeird2018!