ASCII Vampires
Before the computer streamlined this artform, proto-ASCII illustrations were created using typewriters, the earliest said to originate from the 1860s. The phrase ASCII originates from the 95 original characters of the ASCII, or the American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Since its release in 1963, ASCII has been an expression of pareidolia; the human tendency to recognise faces and forms in things with no such features. From the 1980s onward, bulletin boards exacerbated the spread of ASCII artwork, using it for banners, graphics and diagrams. Being text-exclusive protocols, this was out of necessity. Even when the World Wide Web was invented, released to the public and expanding rapidly, ASCII was incorporated on websites, forum signatures and art-packs alongside its sister medium ANSI.
ASCII artwork only requires a text editor, muscle memory and the capacity for creating abstract art. The kernings and edges of its characters are to be understood to create depth, distance and lighting. Some characters appear "darker", while others appear lighter. Some characters can be coupled to create curves or diagonals, while others can be used for a rudimentary form of shading. As a result, ASCII shares many commonalities with monochrome art, in that it centers around creating form and reinforcing the composition with a steady control of values. One example of this is the use of negative space, which can be utilised to suggest form instead of detailing every aspect of a piece. This can reduce tangents and create a more lifelike figure, trusting the viewer to decipher the image, the way a deliberately exposed photograph does. ASCII, unlike 3D models, digital paintings or video games, is lightweight, portable and easy to modify, existing only on a plaintext or markdown file.
Its lack of barrier for entry, lack of financial expenditure and all-around capacity for variation makes it a signature art medium of the internet. Through abstraction and psychology, an ASCII artist is a sort of illusioner amongst artists, a magician amongst draftsmen.
As a lover and creator of ASCII, I only saw it as fair to feature some ASCII vampires. None of these are my own creations, which live elsewhere in the lair.
Joan "jgs" Stark: Dated 1997 to 2000
"A Vampire" 9/96
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"Vampire teeth" 10/98
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"Vampire" 6/97
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"Vampire" 10/00
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VICKY WILKS
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Deluxe
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Art by Deluxe
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Birgit Nietsch
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