: We asked for ASCII, and you delivered.
Two weeks ago, Wired.com launched an art contest inspired by our gallery, "Art and ASCII: The Stories Behind All Those Brackets, Slashes and Carets."
Thanks to all you keyboard art experts, we got dozens of entries that blew our minds. To help us judge the contest, we solicited the help of two ASCII art experts from Japan, entrepreneur Osamu Higuchi and online media expert Ichiroo Kiyota.
The votes are in, and the winner is John AuCoin of Texas, who submitted this drawing of the Creation of Adam. Congrats John -- we'll have some Wired.com swag headed your way momentarily. Click through to see other geeky ASCII creations, from pop culture stars to robots.
Creation of Adam
By John AuCoin of Houston
The judges said: "This is an orthodox piece of work with a Japanese manga-esque touch." AuCoin claims this was the first time he ever tried ASCII art. Apparently he's a natural.
: Astral Apple
By Maija Haavisto of Helsinki, Finland
Haavisto says: "In 2004 I got interested in surrealism in ASCII art and ever since I've drawn several surreal ASCII pieces. This is one of my own favorites. It was drawn for an Apple-themed demo party in 2006. I wanted to show that ASCII art was not just about animals and cartoon characters."
: Tiger
By Maija Haavisto of Helsinki, Finland
Haavisto says: "I spent weeks tweaking every little detail of this picture. I like combining line art and so-called 'solid style' in the same piece for more lively results."
: Scooter Girl
By Piller Gregerson of Norfolk, Virginia
Gregerson says: "It's a punk rock woman with a punk rock scooter!"
: Servbot
By Sadas Dasda, location unknown
: Dwight
By Sadas Dasda, location unknown
: Giant Robots
By Joseph Barrile of New York City
Barrile says: "This piece is part of a collection of four ASCII Battle-Bots and the mad scientist who created them."
: Battles show poster
By Michael Tabie of Orlando, Florida
Tabie says: "This is an ASCII art piece I created for a gig poster to promote a Battles show here in Orlando. It's actually screen-printed two colors (white and silver) on black French paper, 18x24. It's featured in this year's Graphis poster annual."
: Radiohead poster
By Todd Slater of Round Rock, Texas
Slater says: "I designed this hand-pulled silkscreen poster for Radiohead's show in Virginia a few weeks ago. The image is a comment on how the band distributed their newest album, In Rainbows."
: Captain Picard
By Andy Evelhoch of Thousand Oaks, California
: Stephen Colbert
By Taylor Handleton of Maryland
Handleton says: "This is everybody's favorite reporter, Stephen Colbert. I can't seem to find the source image, but I made it in a few hours in Metapad (for the transparency)."
: Marlboro poster
By Nozomu Wakabayashi of Kanagawa, Japan
Wakabayashi says: "Making ASCII art is a hobby. There's a lot of hype about the high price of cigarettes these days, so I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if there was a cigarette poster like this one?'"
