Field notes
Abstract overlapping blobs composed from colorful Solarized ANSI cells, with dithered gradients flowing between warm and cool colors. A native portrait composition of an original seeded fluid field. Warm and cool Solarized colors flow through authentic IBM text-mode glyphs and deliberate negative space. A panoramic abstract fluid field. Seeded organic ribbons, islands, or perforated masses carry dithered Solarized gradients across the full width, with deliberate negative space and no labels or mechanical overlays.
ANS XB PNG

ANSI experiments

Original studies in sixteen colors. Inspect the cells or download a source file.

80 × 18 cells

Chromatic drift / 01

An original abstract fluid field built from a seeded composition of ribbons, islands, or perforated organic forms. Genuine CP437 cells blend Solarized green, yellow, orange, red, magenta, violet, blue, and cyan across deliberate negative space.

An original abstract fluid field built from a seeded composition of ribbons, islands, or perforated organic forms. Genuine CP437 cells blend Solarized green, yellow, orange, red, magenta, violet, blue, and cyan across deliberate negative space.

About this artwork & source

Binary CP437 cells, ANSI color instructions, and the exact 8 × 16 IBM VGA bitmap bundled with Moebius. The static SVG is generated from the same cell grid.

Download .ans ↓ Download .xb with colors & font ↓ Download SVG ↓

36 × 20 cells

Chromatic drift / mobile

A native portrait composition of an original seeded fluid field. Warm and cool Solarized colors flow through authentic IBM text-mode glyphs and deliberate negative space.

A native portrait composition of an original seeded fluid field. Warm and cool Solarized colors flow through authentic IBM text-mode glyphs and deliberate negative space.

About this artwork & source

Binary CP437 cells, ANSI color instructions, and the exact 8 × 16 IBM VGA bitmap bundled with Moebius. The static SVG is generated from the same cell grid.

Download .ans ↓ Download .xb with colors & font ↓ Download SVG ↓

160 × 30 cells

Chromatic drift / wide

A panoramic abstract fluid field. Seeded organic ribbons, islands, or perforated masses carry dithered Solarized gradients across the full width, with deliberate negative space and no labels or mechanical overlays.

A panoramic abstract fluid field. Seeded organic ribbons, islands, or perforated masses carry dithered Solarized gradients across the full width, with deliberate negative space and no labels or mechanical overlays.

About this artwork & source

Binary CP437 cells, ANSI color instructions, and the exact 8 × 16 IBM VGA bitmap bundled with Moebius. The static SVG is generated from the same cell grid.

Download .ans ↓ Download .xb with colors & font ↓ Download SVG ↓

40 × 10 cells

Fragment / A

A warm-to-cool color field split into staggered cuts, crossed by a bright drawing frame and a cyan sliver.

A warm-to-cool color field split into staggered cuts, crossed by a bright drawing frame and a cyan sliver.

About this artwork & source

Binary CP437 cells, ANSI color instructions, and the exact 8 × 16 IBM VGA bitmap bundled with Moebius. The static SVG is generated from the same cell grid.

Download .ans ↓ Download .xb with colors & font ↓ Download SVG ↓

32 × 14 cells

Fragment / B

A vertical fluid spectrum fractured by an offset rectangular cut and incomplete line-drawing frames.

A vertical fluid spectrum fractured by an offset rectangular cut and incomplete line-drawing frames.

About this artwork & source

Binary CP437 cells, ANSI color instructions, and the exact 8 × 16 IBM VGA bitmap bundled with Moebius. The static SVG is generated from the same cell grid.

Download .ans ↓ Download .xb with colors & font ↓ Download SVG ↓

80 × 38 cells

Aperture / architectural study

The original yellow and orange architectural opening. Its offset rear plane refuses to line up, while a thin cyan trace passes through the dark center.

The original yellow and orange architectural opening. Its offset rear plane refuses to line up, while a thin cyan trace passes through the dark center.

About this artwork & source

Binary CP437 cells, ANSI color instructions, and the exact 8 × 16 IBM VGA bitmap bundled with Moebius. The static SVG is generated from the same cell grid.

Download .ans ↓ Download .xb with colors & font ↓ Download SVG ↓

48 × 12 cells

Signal without a source / 02

One deliberate cyan waveform crosses empty space and meets a warm vertical block, with no visible source.

One deliberate cyan waveform crosses empty space and meets a warm vertical block, with no visible source.

About this artwork & source

Binary CP437 cells, ANSI color instructions, and the exact 8 × 16 IBM VGA bitmap bundled with Moebius. The static SVG is generated from the same cell grid.

Download .ans ↓ Download .xb with colors & font ↓ Download SVG ↓

40 × 16 cells

Fold study / 03

An orange and yellow text-mode sheet folded into a displaced diamond, interrupted by a cyan right angle.

An orange and yellow text-mode sheet folded into a displaced diamond, interrupted by a cyan right angle.

About this artwork & source

Binary CP437 cells, ANSI color instructions, and the exact 8 × 16 IBM VGA bitmap bundled with Moebius. The static SVG is generated from the same cell grid.

Download .ans ↓ Download .xb with colors & font ↓ Download SVG ↓

36 × 18 cells

Coordinate not found / 04

An incomplete yellow double-line doorway and displaced orange corner surround the number 404.

An incomplete yellow double-line doorway and displaced orange corner surround the number 404.

About this artwork & source

Binary CP437 cells, ANSI color instructions, and the exact 8 × 16 IBM VGA bitmap bundled with Moebius. The static SVG is generated from the same cell grid.

Download .ans ↓ Download .xb with colors & font ↓ Download SVG ↓

How the artwork is made

An editable generator arranges colored CP437 cells. The header changes its composition, silhouette, openings, and scale with each seed. Hovering recolors nearby cells, and the header downloads capture the displayed grid.

The ANSI exporter writes real 0x1B escape bytes, classic color instructions, and SAUCE metadata declaring dimensions, iCE colors, and 8-pixel spacing. A strict parser reads those bytes into a fixed grid. Both the SVG and live canvas use the same IBM VGA bitmap.

A .ans file uses your editor’s palette. The .xb file embeds the Solarized palette and font for XBIN-capable editors, with the format’s six-bit color precision. These files use nonblinking color attributes.

Edit a composition

Edit gallery cells in scripts/ansi/artworks.mjs or the header algorithm in scripts/ansi/field.mjs, then run pnpm art. See docs/ANSI.md for the encoding, palette mappings, and supported instructions.

The original art and code are MIT licensed. The Moebius IBM VGA bitmap retains its Apache-2.0 license. The VGA interface font is by VileR, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Random display and interface fonts come from the selected Signal Garden library. VGA attribution / Signal Garden font provenance.

Artwork manifest ↗