ASCII Art Gallery

It’s Too Late to Say You’re Sorry… Turned into a Toad

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I read about Frisson Comics on the Broken Pencil website this week. They are looking for submissions/ contributions for a folk horror zine. I had to read about folk horror, it wasn’t a phrase I have heard before. But, it turned out to be a genre of horror I have always liked, without knowing it had a name. It is a blend of things like old wives tales, Witch familiars, country/ rural magic and superstition. Read more about it for a better description. I’m doing my best. Think of dark fairytales which can include modern scenarios and places.

I spent almost a week getting ideas and then trying to turn them into something. I had a lot of ideas but they weren’t just right or not something I could work on with ASCII art. Like any worthwhile puzzle, ASCII art has some limitations.

It's Too Late to Say You're Sorry... Turned into a Toad
It's Too Late to Say You're Sorry... Turned into a Toad

This is what I came up with, just got it all pulled together last night. Made a rough sketch on the back of a junk mail envelope and then started typing. Slowly it became more than just an idea on the back of an envelope. I like how it turned out. It really tells the story as I hoped it would. If you don’t agree you might keep that to yourself lest you be turned into a toad!

I added “It’s too late to say you’re sorry…” because that song has been stuck in my head for the past two days. It works well here.

Cooking and Baking ASCII Art

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Thinking of the SciArt being posted to Twitter this week. I wanted more to post myself. So I got thinking about everyday measuring, the sort we do when baking a cake, bread and so on. So I made this ASCII art with a rolling pin, eggs, measuring cup, bag of flour, and a mixing bowl.

Cooking and Baking ASCII Art

The Mohawk Church in Ontario

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Mohawk Chruch, Ontario
This Mohawk Church (sometimes called a chapel) is located in Ontario. It is the oldest, still standing, church in Ontario. People can visit the church but are not allowed to take photographs without written permission. I found photographs of the church online. But, I used an old illustration from the 1800’s to make my ASCII art of the church. It had a good angle to show more of it. The view from the front is nice but makes it look one dimensional.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make this work, trying various ideas. None quite worked for the steeples/roof area of the church. If I had made the whole thing much larger, that would have made it easier in some ways and harder in others. Mostly, making it larger would have been frustrating to work with in MS Notepad. So, the Mohawk Church is as-is.

Thin shapes are not easy to create with ASCII art, the lines don’t move. You can only fill each line with one character at a time. So a thin line, like a church steeple or a dragon’s tail, relies on the line above it or below it to have more characters to meet up close together to create a thin line. Try it yourself to understand.