ASCII Animal Artwork
'-. , , .-' \ _.-'"'-._ / \ (_).---.(_) / '-/ \-' \__.---.__/ / .' '. \ ,--(_;.-----.;_)--, / | \ / | \ / /;'-.'._.'.-';\ \ ,-' /, \~ \-=-/ ~/ ,\ '-, ; ; |~ '.' ~| ; ; |; ' \=====/ ; ;| /| ; ;_| === |_; ; |\ / | \_/;= = =;\_/ | \ _/ | ; ;_ \===/ _; ; | \_ ` | \_/ ;\=/; \_/ | ` | \_| ; ;|; ; |_/ | ;\_/ ; ;/ \; ; \_/; ;/, ; ; | | ; ; ,\; ; ; ; / \ ; ; ; \; ; ;| |; ; ;/ \; ; / \ ; ;/ \_.' '._/Ascii artwork is a retro form of graphic design that originated in the early ’80s. It’s no surprise that computers from the early ’80s were severely limited (think black backgrounds with fluorescent green text); the limitations of these early computers sometimes required the use of text characters to represent images. Computer printers of the early ’80s were also limited; ascii art was implemented when printing large banners, creating graphics/images from text characters, as well as printing words at a larger sizes (see example below).
oooooooooo. ooooo ooooo ooo .oooooo. .o. `888' `Y8b `888' `888b. `8' d8P' `Y8b .888. 888 888 888 8 `88b. 8 888 .8"888. 888 888 888 8 `88b. 8 888 .8' `888. 888 888 888 8 `88b.8 888 .88ooo8888. 888 d88' 888 8 `888 `88b ooo .8' `888. o888bood8P' o888o o8o `8 `Y8bood8P' o88o o8888oThe early ’80s saw ASCII artwork as a necessity; the early -mid ’90s saw ASCII artwork as a window for artistic expression. Sometimes when things become obsolete they come to be cool again. I remember back in the mid ’90s — the AOL, the days of dial-up internet, where you had to pay by the minute — it was far easier to piss off your parents when using the internet. Back in those days, if someone was on the internet, they’d tie up the phone line causing Mother or Father to miss that important after-hours business call.
oooooooooo. ooooo .oooooo. .oooooo. `888' `Y8b `888' d8P' `Y8b d8P' `Y8b 888 888 888 888 888 888 888oooo888' 888 888 888 888 888 `88b 888 888 888 888 ooooo 888 .88P 888 o `88b d88' `88. .88' o888bood8P' o888ooooood8 `Y8bood8P' `Y8bood8P'You only need a simple text editor program and a fixed width font to create ascii artwork. Fixed width fonts, aka monospaced fonts, are fonts where every glyph/character has an evenly sized/spaced column, allowing the characters to line up in a neat, orderly fashion. When I think monospaced, I think NASA; I think science or source code. Despite their limitations, the sporadic decision to use a monospaced typeface in graphic design can be rewarding.
Some of my fav. Monospaced typefaces include (hover over image for font name):
Now that we have prefaced ASCII artwork and monospaced typefaces, it’s time for the ASCII animal artwork.
WHITE TAIL DEER
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/||\ |||| |||| _____.-..-. |||| /|\ .-~@@/ / q p \ /|\ |||| ||| .'@ _@/..\-.__.-/ ||| |||| ||| /@.-~/|~~~`\|__|/ ||| |||| ||| |'--<|| '~~' ||| ||||_d|| |>--<\@\ ||| |||||||/ \>---<\@`\. ||b._||||~~' `\>---<`\@`\. \|||||||| `\>----<`\@`\. `~~~|||| _ `\>-----<`\@`\. |||| (_) `\>-----<`\.@`\. |||| (_) `\>------<`\.@`\. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~||||~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(__)~~~~~~~~~`\>-------<`\.@`\~~~~~~~~~~~~ \/..__..-- . |||| . \/ ..___( _)@@@--..____\..--\@@@/~`\@@>-._ \/ . \/ \/ \/ /- \@@@@@/-@/- - \@@@/ - - \@/-\@@@@@/- \ --._ . \/ _..\/-...--.. |- - \@@@/ - \@@@@@/~~~\@@@@@/- -\@@@/- - | .\/ . \/ | - - \@/ - - \@@@/- - -\@@@/- - -\@/- - -| . . \/ . \/ ~-.__ - - - - \@/- - - -\@/- - - - -__.-~ . \/ __...--..__..__ . \/ ~~~--..____- - - - -____..--~~~ \/_..--. \/ . . \/ \/ __..--... \/ ~~~~~~~~~ \/ . \/ . chs Craig H. SmithDOLPHIN
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,. ,-'.:\ _/'.:'_:'`._ .-._ _.-'' ```-`.,'.::.`-._ _.' ``-..:.:.`-. ,' ____ `-:.:,' _..-'| ,',. ),'' ```--...___ `-.__..'':.. | / (O ) \ `. ___....-----..``-...___ \::. | /_' `' / ) /,'::::::._:.-' ````-.-'- .-'| ,-`'. ,' ,' / ):::._,' __...--../::. | `. _,' `--'' _.'' `-.._| `''-..''_ _.'.:`. SSt ``. ..--....___.-' `:_.::/ \ .:`. `-.\ \:::| \_,'Okay, now it’s time for you to make your own ASCII artwork. I highly recommend using WriteRoom as your text editor — it’s a minimalist, pseudo-retro text editor featuring fluorescent green text on a black background — the only included extras are a word-count feature and a spell-checker. Essentially it’s like writing in the ’80s. WriteRoom strips it down, forcing one to focus solely on the content of their writing.
Side Note: Dinca has two new contributors — Maria Bazhlekova, Houston, who wrote the review of My Dinner with Andre — and Matt “Digital” Walsh, NYC, who’s using Dinca as a cyber dream journal. You may know Matt as the drummer of the NYC band, The Forms. Check out Threespheres Music to hear some of Matt’s music.
If you consider yourself a writer and are interested in contributing to Dinca, please visit this page and fill out the necessary information. The info form should be up in a few days. Thanks!
MORE:
Download the WriteRoom Retro Text Editor
Joe Stark’s ASCII Art Gallery (super ’90s web design)
