Gallery: Surreal to Sublime, Wired.com Readers' Geekiest ASCII Art

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By John AuCoin of HoustonThe 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.

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."

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."

Gregerson says: "It's a punk rock woman with a punk rock scooter!"

By Sadas Dasda, location unknown

By Sadas Dasda, location unknown

Barrile says: "This piece is part of a collection of four ASCII Battle-Bots and the mad scientist who created them."

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."

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By Andy Evelhoch of Thousand Oaks, California

(for the transparency)."

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?'"