Dark Illustrated
Encyclopedia
Digital Artists of a Rare Kind, later known as Dark Illustrated, or simply Dark was an underground computer artscene group that primarily released ANSI
, ASCII
, and high resolution
artwork from 1994 to 1999. Though the organization did not operate as long as ACiD
, iCE
, or CiA
, Dark was a very influential and critically successful group. Dark was especially popular with Canadian ANSI art
ists, who made up a large portion of the member base.
Dark's monthly artpack
s, referred to as "collections", were organized a bit differently than other artscene groups. While the naming scheme for the collections was the common "month/year" format (ie DARK0295.ZIP for Dark Collection 02/95, or February 1995), Dark titled the digital artwork files themselves in a unique manner.
Dark chose not to follow the traditional "two character" artist abbreviation format, where the first two characters of an 8.3 filename are reserved for artist initials, followed by a dash, then a five character title. Instead the first five characters were reserved for the artist's name, followed by a dash, then a two digit number representing how many pieces the artist had released for the year. In addition, Dark, not unlike artscene groups such as Cia
and iCE
, used a shortened version of their group name as the file suffix for ANSI
files. In this case, .ANS became .DRK.
Dark was also the only artscene group to release annual "best of" compilations.
Collections
Annual "Best of" Compilations
ANSI art
ANSI art is a computer art form that was widely used at one time on BBSes. It is similar to ASCII art, but constructed from a larger set of 256 letters, numbers, and symbols — all codes found in IBM code page 437, often referred to as extended ASCII and used in MS-DOS and Unix environments...
, ASCII
ASCII art
ASCII art is a graphic design technique that uses computers for presentation and consists of pictures pieced together from the 95 printable characters defined by the ASCII Standard from 1963 and ASCII compliant character sets with proprietary extended characters...
, and high resolution
Image resolution
Image resolution is an umbrella term that describes the detail an image holds. The term applies to raster digital images, film images, and other types of images. Higher resolution means more image detail....
artwork from 1994 to 1999. Though the organization did not operate as long as ACiD
ACiD Productions
ACiD Productions is a digital art group. Founded in 1990, the group originally specialized in ANSI artwork for BBSes. More recently, they have extended their reach into other graphical media and computer software development...
, iCE
ICE Advertisements
iCE Advertisements is a digital art group formed in 1991. Although the expanded title is rarely ever used, iCE is an acronym for Insane Creators Enterprise...
, or CiA
Creators of Intense Art
Creators of Intense Art, or Cia was an underground computer artscene group that primarily released ANSI, ASCII, and high resolution artwork from 1993 to 2001...
, Dark was a very influential and critically successful group. Dark was especially popular with Canadian ANSI art
ANSI art
ANSI art is a computer art form that was widely used at one time on BBSes. It is similar to ASCII art, but constructed from a larger set of 256 letters, numbers, and symbols — all codes found in IBM code page 437, often referred to as extended ASCII and used in MS-DOS and Unix environments...
ists, who made up a large portion of the member base.
Releases
Artpack
An artpack is an archive of computer artwork which is distributed in a compressed format such as ZIP or RAR.While most artpacks today contain either ANSI and ASCII art or hirez VGA, they may also include a combination of RIPscrip art, tracked or otherwise digital music, poetry and editorials, 3D...
s, referred to as "collections", were organized a bit differently than other artscene groups. While the naming scheme for the collections was the common "month/year" format (ie DARK0295.ZIP for Dark Collection 02/95, or February 1995), Dark titled the digital artwork files themselves in a unique manner.
Dark chose not to follow the traditional "two character" artist abbreviation format, where the first two characters of an 8.3 filename are reserved for artist initials, followed by a dash, then a five character title. Instead the first five characters were reserved for the artist's name, followed by a dash, then a two digit number representing how many pieces the artist had released for the year. In addition, Dark, not unlike artscene groups such as Cia
Creators of Intense Art
Creators of Intense Art, or Cia was an underground computer artscene group that primarily released ANSI, ASCII, and high resolution artwork from 1993 to 2001...
and iCE
ICE Advertisements
iCE Advertisements is a digital art group formed in 1991. Although the expanded title is rarely ever used, iCE is an acronym for Insane Creators Enterprise...
, used a shortened version of their group name as the file suffix for ANSI
Ansi
Ansi is a village in Kaarma Parish, Saare County, on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia....
files. In this case, .ANS became .DRK.
Dark was also the only artscene group to release annual "best of" compilations.
CollectionsArtpackAn artpack is an archive of computer artwork which is distributed in a compressed format such as ZIP or RAR.While most artpacks today contain either ANSI and ASCII art or hirez VGA, they may also include a combination of RIPscrip art, tracked or otherwise digital music, poetry and editorials, 3D...
- Dark Collection #01 (first collection)
- Dark Collection #44 Disk A (final collection)
- Dark Collection #44 Disk B
- Dark Collection #44 Disk C
Annual "Best of" CompilationsArtpackAn artpack is an archive of computer artwork which is distributed in a compressed format such as ZIP or RAR.While most artpacks today contain either ANSI and ASCII art or hirez VGA, they may also include a combination of RIPscrip art, tracked or otherwise digital music, poetry and editorials, 3D...
External links
- Dark Domain The ACiD Artpacks Archive on DVD (ISBN 0-9746537-0-5), contains all available Dark Collections.
- darkillustrated.org Dark Illustrated's home on the internet. Very outdated. (offline)
- Dark Illustrated Legacy: A Decadent Recollection. (offline)