ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, in case you didn’t know, and now, when we are sure you know what are we talking about, let us introduce you to the one and only tattoo artist in the world who’s creating his art using this technique. 32-year-old Vrontis has always been fascinated by ASCII art and “how a simple lettering pattern could create so much symmetry and detail in the end result”. So, a few years ago, he started experimenting with ways to integrate the digital art style into his real-life tattoos. ASCII portrait tattoos are harder to pull off than regular ones or other types of imagery. Maintaining the thin text lines as clean as possible while also keeping an eye on spacing is essential, and a simple error like pushing the needle too deep into the skin can mess up the entire design. And since ASCII art uses tiny characters, it’s even more complicated, requiring both concentration and mountains of patience. Wow! This impressively talented artist has more than 24k followers on Instagram, where you can also see his other work and styles he’s using.
“I would not want to reveal my creative process as it has taken me many years to develop and perfect it,” the Cypriot tattoo artist said.
Lovely combination of beautiful black-and-grey and ASCII tattoo style.
“There are many computer programs out there; however, the outcome is not as realistic as anyone would think.”
“Sometimes I start with a random program, just to get a general idea of how a portrait would look, but I don’t stay there.”
“I try to define the portrait on my own terms.”
“The lines are very thin and the letters are so close to one another, so in a sense there is no room for errors.”
“What I find absolutely amazing with this technique is the ability to produce a new understanding or perception of what is real and what is not.”
