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Gradient and Colour functions

The gradient of your sketch can completely change how it looks. Picking the right one is integral to making your sketch look nice.

Using fewer characters in a gradient can make the colours more distinct but there will be lower fidelity.
gradientTest() is your friend and it makes it very easy to compare colours. Standing back and squinting also gives you a more general view of the value of each segment.
Try to use characters that are “well distributed” meaning that they take up a lot of width and height. For example, * and o have a similar brightness, but the o takes up more space. Characters that are poorly distibuted such as | tend to look darker than they actually are.
Avoid any character from notAllowedCharacters because they tend to break things.
Make sure your gradient string is arranged from darkest to lightest, otherwise the sketch will be in inverted colours.

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