BLOCKTRONICS - DARK SIDE OF THE BLOCK July 28th, 2019
This pack has been a while in the making. After the excitement and fervour of
last years 10th anniversary, followed by our Christmas and 67 RPM album
releases, the b7 family collectively went on a bit of a hiatus for a while.
Call it what you will: spring break, some time to recharge the batteries, a
lengthy yet well-deserved nap.
But here we now are, reinvigorated, full of new blood and ready to present to
to you for your perusal Blocktronics 28th release, Dark Side of the Block.
There were a number of things that came together to energize us and bring us
back to what we all love. The first things to really wake us from our torpor
were the slew of demoparty competitions and conventions that occurred
throughout the spring. The LayerOne, Revision and Flashback ansi competitions
helped get the juices flowing again, and you can see several of the various
winners and other submissions in this pack, including scrollers by Misfit,
Alpha King H7, and Whazzit, as well as the smaller 23 liners they produced.
Congratulations to our friends in Fuel, too, for their submissions and winning
entries. Alpha King also gave a presentation on the history of ansi art at
the Denver Pop Culture Convention in early June, and word on the street is
that he may do so again next year as well.
Additionally, thanks in large part to Misfits gregarious and undying efforts
to bring some of the artists we all know and love back to ansi, some old
friends have joined or rejoined the Blocktronics crew. We are therefore
thrilled to announce the addition to the team of none other than Toon Goon,
who needs no introduction, and the re-welcoming of Stone Amnesia, who actually
cameoed with us 3 years ago but had been on his own rip van winkle of a nap
from ansi since then. Their artwork helped give us the kick in the pants we
needed to really get our asses in gear and get this pack on track.
Hoaks, once of iCE, also joins us for the first time, as does Riley, a
a newcomer to ansi but experienced in pixel art and graffiti - two of ansis
much more famous and probably slightly less drunk cousins. Finally, the
incendiary Propane has joined the ranks and given us hours of moral and
immoral support.
Third, our own Andy Herbert seemingly decided that a vacation actually meant
work, and so he went and created an entirely new ansi editor, Moebius the
creation of which got us going again as we tried out its new bells and
whistles - including an incredibly useful half-block drawing tool, marking
another step in the evolution of mouse-drawing thats so revolutionized how
many of us draw today. Rumour has it that Moebius also supports a surface pen,
in addition to having a number of other new features, so grab it at
http://www.andyh.org/moebius/ and check out the Moebius @moebius.ansi
page on Facebook for tips and updates.
Other than that, Id also like to thank Alpha King for his untiring work and
enthusiasm for all things Blocktronics, and for ansi more generally. Putting
this together has been a lot easier, and more fun, with his help.
We hope you enjoy the art!
- Whazzit