Csplk/THE.ASCII.ART.EMPORIUM · Datasets at Hugging Face

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as well.

2. The CANVAS, or "Targon's secret."

One of the very first ASCII artists on GEnie, TARGON, came up with the
idea of creating a "canvas." To make it easier to put your characters
where they need to go, start with a blank canvas. In most word
processing programs, (including Aladdin's text editor), the cursor
can't be moved somewhere it's never been before. That's fine if you
know exactly where you want each character, and can type it in
perfectly the first time, but if you need to experiment, like I do,
you'll want to move that cursor around with your arrow keys.

The canvas consists of a screen full of lines, and the lines consist
of nothing but spaces you've tapped in with your spacebar. This is
the way I made mine:

First, go to the program you plan to use to make your pictures. Since
I use Aladdin, I'll describe the procedure I use. While offline, go
to a reply screen, such as the ASCII Art topic in the FAMILY BB.
(Category 3, topic 18.) Hit "r" for "reply." When the screen comes
up, draw a line of dashes across the top, and then hit the enter key
oh... about twenty times or so. At the end of the screen, draw
another line of dashes across the bottom.

Go back to the top of the screen, press the down arrow once, and start
hitting the space bar. When you get to the end of the line, use the
down arrow to get to the next line. Do not hit "enter" again, and do
not let the line of spaces wrap around. Hit the space bar again,
filling the next line with spaces, and again when you get to the end
of the line, use the down arrow key to get to the next line. Continue
doing this till you've filled all 20 lines with blank spaces.

At this point, it would be wise to "save" the "canvas" so that you
don't have to go through this every time you want to do a picture. To
save a file on Aladdin, you hold down the control key and tap the K,
then the W. A little screen will pop up, asking for a name. I chose
the name "canvas," but then, I'm an original thinker. :) From then
on, when you want to create a new picture, you can "recall" the canvas
by going to a reply screen. To recall the canvas using Aladdin, hold
down the control key and tap the K then the R. You'll see that little
window come up, asking for a file name, and you type in the name you
gave your canvas. Then hit enter, and the canvas will be on the
screen. For those who would rather skip this step, I've included a
canvas at the end of the file. Since most of my pictures are rather
large, the canvas is larger than I've specified here.

3. How to start, or "Whaddaya mean, just start tapping keys?"

Now you're ready to begin creating your picture. The first thing you
need to do is make sure your text editor is in "overwrite" mode. In
Aladdin's default setting, that means you'll need to hit the "insert"
key one time. This way, each character you tap into place will
overwrite the blank space. If you do not have your text editor in
overwrite mode, each character you tap in will be inserted between
your spaces, and the lines will begin to wrap almost immediately. If
that happens, don't panic, just delete the extra keys, press the
"insert" key and start again. I guarantee you, you'll notice quickly.

Another pointer to remember: If you've tapped something in and you
don't like it, or if you've made a mistake, do NOT erase it using the
backspace key. The backspace key will delete that space, and it'll
offset the rest of that line by one. You may not notice that if
you've only backspaced once, but if you've backspaced a dozen
characters out of the way, you'll have a line that's shorter than the
rest by that many spaces.

If you want to correct a mistake, just use your arrow keys till the
cursor is on the space you want to change, and tap in the character
you want. (Again, make sure you are in overwrite mode.) If you
forget and backspace an error away, hit the insert key again, then hit
the spacebar till you've added back in the spaces you accidentally
deleted, then hit the insert key again to go back to overwrite mode.

Oh, one more thing... For some reason, it's best to leave the first
space on each line blank. Your art will look fine while you're
creating it, but when it gets uploaded to GEnie a character on the
very first space of the line will cause the following lines get
shifted over one space, and that's enough to mess up a picture. This
is especially true if you have used any asterisks (*) as first
characters on the line. The asterisk is used on GEnie to say, "The
following is a command, not part of the text." People viewing your
work won't even see that line.

4. Sources, or "Where do I find pictures to try?"

Most of us have some little doodle we've done for years... I've always
drawn little elephant fannies all over papers and scraps. I'd suggest
that you translate YOUR doodle to ASCII art as your first piece. It's
familiar, and you'll know if it doesn't look quite right. Play with
it till you're satisfied with it.

For your next piece, choose something simple. You'll have an easier
time, and you'll build your confidence. Children's coloring books are
a great place to find simple pictures to try. While you're finding
the sorts of pictures you enjoy doing, you'll be developing your very
own style of ASCII art.

One of the greatest things about this particular art form is that each
style is so distinctively different. Once an artist has the basics

as well.

2. The CANVAS, or "Targon's secret."

One of the very first ASCII artists on GEnie, TARGON, came up with the

idea of creating a "canvas." To make it easier to put your characters

where they need to go, start with a blank canvas. In most word

processing programs, (including Aladdin's text editor), the cursor

can't be moved somewhere it's never been before. That's fine if you

know exactly where you want each character, and can type it in

perfectly the first time, but if you need to experiment, like I do,

you'll want to move that cursor around with your arrow keys.

The canvas consists of a screen full of lines, and the lines consist

of nothing but spaces you've tapped in with your spacebar. This is

the way I made mine:

First, go to the program you plan to use to make your pictures. Since

I use Aladdin, I'll describe the procedure I use. While offline, go

to a reply screen, such as the ASCII Art topic in the FAMILY BB.

(Category 3, topic 18.) Hit "r" for "reply." When the screen comes

up, draw a line of dashes across the top, and then hit the enter key

oh... about twenty times or so. At the end of the screen, draw

another line of dashes across the bottom.

Go back to the top of the screen, press the down arrow once, and start

hitting the space bar. When you get to the end of the line, use the

down arrow to get to the next line. Do not hit "enter" again, and do

not let the line of spaces wrap around. Hit the space bar again,

filling the next line with spaces, and again when you get to the end

of the line, use the down arrow key to get to the next line. Continue

doing this till you've filled all 20 lines with blank spaces.

At this point, it would be wise to "save" the "canvas" so that you

don't have to go through this every time you want to do a picture. To

save a file on Aladdin, you hold down the control key and tap the K,

then the W. A little screen will pop up, asking for a name. I chose

the name "canvas," but then, I'm an original thinker. :) From then

on, when you want to create a new picture, you can "recall" the canvas

by going to a reply screen. To recall the canvas using Aladdin, hold

down the control key and tap the K then the R. You'll see that little

window come up, asking for a file name, and you type in the name you

gave your canvas. Then hit enter, and the canvas will be on the

screen. For those who would rather skip this step, I've included a

canvas at the end of the file. Since most of my pictures are rather

large, the canvas is larger than I've specified here.

3. How to start, or "Whaddaya mean, just start tapping keys?"

Now you're ready to begin creating your picture. The first thing you

need to do is make sure your text editor is in "overwrite" mode. In

Aladdin's default setting, that means you'll need to hit the "insert"

key one time. This way, each character you tap into place will

overwrite the blank space. If you do not have your text editor in

overwrite mode, each character you tap in will be inserted between

your spaces, and the lines will begin to wrap almost immediately. If

that happens, don't panic, just delete the extra keys, press the

"insert" key and start again. I guarantee you, you'll notice quickly.

Another pointer to remember: If you've tapped something in and you

don't like it, or if you've made a mistake, do NOT erase it using the

backspace key. The backspace key will delete that space, and it'll

offset the rest of that line by one. You may not notice that if

you've only backspaced once, but if you've backspaced a dozen

characters out of the way, you'll have a line that's shorter than the

rest by that many spaces.

If you want to correct a mistake, just use your arrow keys till the

cursor is on the space you want to change, and tap in the character

you want. (Again, make sure you are in overwrite mode.) If you

forget and backspace an error away, hit the insert key again, then hit

the spacebar till you've added back in the spaces you accidentally

deleted, then hit the insert key again to go back to overwrite mode.

Oh, one more thing... For some reason, it's best to leave the first

space on each line blank. Your art will look fine while you're

creating it, but when it gets uploaded to GEnie a character on the

very first space of the line will cause the following lines get

shifted over one space, and that's enough to mess up a picture. This

is especially true if you have used any asterisks (*) as first

characters on the line. The asterisk is used on GEnie to say, "The

following is a command, not part of the text." People viewing your

work won't even see that line.

4. Sources, or "Where do I find pictures to try?"

Most of us have some little doodle we've done for years... I've always

drawn little elephant fannies all over papers and scraps. I'd suggest

that you translate YOUR doodle to ASCII art as your first piece. It's

familiar, and you'll know if it doesn't look quite right. Play with

it till you're satisfied with it.

For your next piece, choose something simple. You'll have an easier

time, and you'll build your confidence. Children's coloring books are

a great place to find simple pictures to try. While you're finding

the sorts of pictures you enjoy doing, you'll be developing your very

own style of ASCII art.

One of the greatest things about this particular art form is that each

style is so distinctively different. Once an artist has the basics