_ ____ ____ ___ ___ _ _ / \ / ___| / ___|_ _|_ _| / \ _ __| |_ / _ \ \___ \| | | | | | / _ \ | '__| __| / ___ \ ___) | |___ | | | | / ___ \| | | |_ /_/ \_\____/ \____|___|___| /_/ \_\_| \__|
Artwork that is made up of nothing more than carefully-arranged keyboard characters — 95 American Standard Code for Information Interchange characters, to be precise — is called ASCII art.
I have already shared a few examples of ASCII art, without going into detail about them being ASCII art, in my post about having fun with the Linux command line, where Asciiquarium, Banner, Cowsay, Figlet (which produced the above example), and Sl were all featured.
There are multiple styles of ASCII art, such as typewriter styles that form individual letters, line art to create shapes and characters (even emoticons!), shaded art, solid art, etc. Even photos can be converted to large, intricate versions of ASCII art.
For the sake of this brief introduction, I’ll spare you all of the details of each type of art, and leave you with a few examples:
_.---.)
(^--^)_.-" `;
) ee ( |
(_.__._) /
`--', ,'
jgs )_|--')_|
""' ""'
___ ___ ___ ___ ___.---------------.
.'\__\'\__\'\__\'\__\'\__,` . ____ ___ \
|\/ __\/ __\/ __\/ __\/ _:\ |`. \ \___ \
\\'\__\'\__\'\__\'\__\'\_`.__|""`. \ \___ \
\\/ __\/ __\/ __\/ __\/ __: \
\\'\__\'\__\'\__\ \__\'\_;-----------------`
\\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ : hh|
\|______________________;________________|
___,-----.___
,--' `--.
/ \
/ \
| |
| |
| |~~~~~~~~~| |
| \ / |
| \ / |
\ \ / /
\ | | /
\ | | /
\ | | /
\ | | /
\____|___| ___/
)___,-----'___(
)___,-----'___(
)___,-----'___(
)___,-----'___(
\_____________/
\___/
.--.
|o_o |
|:_/ |
// \ \
(| | )
/'\_ _/`\
\___)=(___/
.
,O,
,OOO,
'oooooOOOOOooooo'
`OOOOOOOOOOO`
`OOOOOOO`
OOOO'OOOO
OOO' 'OOO
O' 'O
,---,---,---,---,---,---,---,---,---,---,---,---,---,-------,
| ~ | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | [ | ] | <- |
|---'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-----|
| ->| | " | , | . | P | Y | F | G | C | R | L | / | = | \ |
|-----',--',--',--',--',--',--',--',--',--',--',--',--'-----|
| Caps | A | O | E | U | I | D | H | T | N | S | - | Enter |
|------'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'-,-'--------|
| | ; | Q | J | K | X | B | M | W | V | Z | |
|------,-',--'--,'---'---'---'---'---'---'-,-'---',--,------|
| ctrl | | alt | | alt | | ctrl |
'------' '-----'--------------------------'------' '------'
Euphrasie
_______
// ||\ \
_____//___||_\ \___
) _ _ \
|_/ \________/ \___|
___\_/________\_/______
~From: Colin Douthwaite
do.
:NOX
,NOM@:
:NNNN:
:XXXON
:XoXXX.
MM;ONO:
.oob.. :MMO;MOM
dXOXYYNNb. ,NNMX:MXN
Mo"' '':Nbb dNMMN MNN:
Mo 'O;; ':Mb. ,MXMNM MNX:
@O :;XXMN..'X@b. ,NXOMXM MNX:
YX;;NMMMM@M;;OM@o. dXOOMMN:MNX:
'MOONM@@@MMN:':NONb. ,dXONM@@MbMXX:
MOON@M@@MMMM;;:OOONb ,MX'"':ONMMMMX:
:NOOM@@MNNN@@X;""XNN@Mb .dP"' ,..OXM@N:
MOON@@MMNXXMMO :M@@M...@o.oN""":OOOXNNXXOo:
:NOX@@@MNXXXMNo :MMMM@K"`,:;NNM@@NXM@MNO;.'N.
NO:X@@MNXXX@@O:'X@@@@MOOOXMM@M@NXXN@M@NOO ''b
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YNO;'"NXXXX@M;;::"XMNN:""ON@@MO: ,;;.:Y@X: :OX.
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'@XMX':OX@@MN: ;O; :OX@MO" 'OMM@N; ':OO;N@N
YN;":.:OXMX"': ,:NNO;';XMMX: ,;@@MNN.'.:O;:@X:
`@N;;XOOOXO;;:O;:@MOO;:O:"" ,oMP@@K"YM.;NMO;`NM
`@@MN@MOX@@MNMN;@@MNXXOO: ,d@NbMMP'd@@OX@NO;.'bb.
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.ddMNOO@@XOOM@@XOONMMM@@MNXXMMo;."' .":OXO ':.'"'"' '""o.
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.@@MX" ;X@@XXOOM@OOXXOO:o:' :OXMNO"' ;OOO;.: ,OXMOOXXXOOXMb
,dMOo: oO@@MNOON@N:::" . ,;O:""' .dMXXO: ,;OX@XO"":ON@M@
:Y@MX:. oO@M@NOXN@NO. ..: ,;;O;. :.OX@@MOO;.. .OOMNMO.;XN@M@P
,MP"OO' oO@M@O:ON@MO;;XO;:OXMNOO;. ,.;.;OXXN@MNXO;.. oOX@NMMN@@@@@M:
`' "O:;;OON@@MN::XNMOOMXOOOM@@MMNXO:;XXNNMNXXXN@MNXOOOOOXNM@NM@@@M@MP
:XN@MMM@M@M: :'OON@@XXNM@M@MXOOdN@@@MM@@@@MMNNXOOOXXNNN@@M@MMMM"'
.oNM@MM@ONO' :;ON@@MM@MMNNXXXM@@@@M@PY@@MMNNNNNNNNNNNM@M@M@@P'
;O:OXM@MNOOO. 'OXOONM@MNNMMXON@MM@@b. 'Y@@@@@@@@@@@@@M@@MP"'"
;O':OOXNXOOXX: :;NMO:":NMMMXOOX@MN@@@@b.:M@@@M@@@MMM@""""
:: ;"OOOOOO@N;: 'ON@MO.'":""OOOO@@NNMN@@@. Y@@@MMM@@@@b
:; ':O:oX@@O;; ;O@@XO' "oOOOOXMMNMNNN@MN""YMNMMM@@MMo.
:N:. ''oOM@NMo.::OX@NOOo. ;OOOXXNNNMMMNXNM@bd@MNNMMM@MM@bb
@;O . ,OOO@@@MX;;ON@NOOO.. ' ':OXN@NNN@@@@@M@@@@MNXNMM@MMM@,
M@O;; :O:OX@@M@NXXOM@NOO:;;:,;;ON@NNNMM'`"@@M@@@@@MXNMMMMM@N
N@NOO;:oO;O:NMMM@M@OO@NOO;O;oOOXN@NNM@@' `Y@NM@@@@MMNNMM@MM
::@MOO;oO:::OXNM@@MXOM@OOOOOOXNMMNNNMNP ""MNNM@@@MMMM@MP
@@@XOOO':::OOXXMNOO@@OOOOXNN@NNNNNNNN '`YMM@@@MMM@P'
MM@@M:'''' O:":ONOO@MNOOOOXM@NM@NNN@P -hrr- "`"""MM'
''MM@: "' 'OOONMOYOOOOO@MM@MNNM"
YM@' :OOMN: :OOOO@MMNOXM'
`:P :oP'' "'OOM@NXNM'
`' ':OXNP'
'"'
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+It.
+II+
+III;
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titIIII;
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:I; +II;
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:I: iIi
:I. ;Ii
;I. =I;
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tI ;I;
:;itIIIII +t:
;tIIIIIIIII :t;
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;IIIIIIIIIII;
;IIIIIIIIIt;
;tIIIIt+;
....
___-------___
_-~~ ~~-_
_-~ /~-_
/^\__/^\ /~ \ / \
/| O|| O| / \_______________/ \
| |___||__| / / \ \
| \ / / \ \
| (_______) /______/ \_________ \
| / / \ / \
\ \^\\ \ / \ /
\ || \______________/ _-_ //\__//
\ ||------_-~~-_ ------------- \ --/~ ~\ || __/
~-----||====/~ |==================| |/~~~~~
(_(__/ ./ / \_\ \.
(_(___/ \_____)_)
There are many sites that share ASCII art, but one of my favorites is ASCII Code.