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  Man, super-productiveJul 31, 2017 9:02 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:*This* Monday I got a page done! : D And there's no dialogue in it, but I did get the dialogue for the next *two* pages written. : D ... I just can't show it to you yet. : P
 
 
 
 
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  Space Warrior or uh something : DJul 29, 2017 7:51 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Thanks to everyone who's helping me out by supporting the comic through my Patreon campaign! : D Those supporting at the $10 or higher level get a fresh piece of art snail-mailed straight from me to them each and every month. : ) Here's a sketch I got to send to a reader recently for their support:
 
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Thank you very much! ^_^
 
 
 
 
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  Hey look a comicJul 27, 2017 10:37 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Aaaaand scene! We're about to see a little bit of space, even! : o Hope I remember how that goes.
 
 
 
 
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  Blast Off!--with this A* original art auctionJul 26, 2017 10:28 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:This week's special original art sale of a piece from the A* archives is a rocket ship blasting into space! It's the 17" x 7.5" ink wash illustration I made for A* episode 17, page 67, and for the next week is up for auction, starting at a special low price, right here.
 
Loads of spattered-on white ink stars in this one. : ) The above-linked auction listing has the high-res pics, but here are tiny teaser ones:
 
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Thanks for checking it out! You can track that and all my other A* original art sales through my eBay profile. : )
 
 
 
 
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  Maybe don't come hitherJul 25, 2017 10:04 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Readers are helping keep A* going, even with just a dollar or two a month, through my Patreon campaign! It's a huge help and I really appreciate everyone who's contributing. : D Here's a sketch I got to send to one reader for their support:
 
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Thank you very, very much! : )
 
 
 
 
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  No new page today! (brain-dead excuses)Jul 24, 2017 2:05 PM PDT | url
 
Short version: No new A* page today because I'm a goofball. Back at it tomorrow!
 
Overly long, excuse-laden version: Tossing and turning most of the night following questionable dining decisions yesterday evening, coupled with a plumber's visit to my studio apartment today, has left my confidence in my ability to make a decent A* page at a low enough ebb that I'm *not* going to try to work on a new page today, and will instead catch up or work ahead on things I can still do reasonably well while somewhat brain-dead, like sleep, backing up my A* files, applying for a local art show, mailing sketches to Patreon supporters, and scanning the ink piece for the next weekly A* art sale on Wednesday. Should be back to my usual bouncy, A* page-producing, functional bathroom-having self tomorrow!
 
 
 
 
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  Minimum blogJul 22, 2017 9:38 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Sketch for a reader supporting the comic through my Patreon campaign:
 
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Thank you very much! : D
 
 
 
 
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  Way too excitingJul 20, 2017 9:37 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:My activity this evening shall be catching up on some emails. Yes!
 
 
 
 
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  A* original art on sale at its most lurkyJul 19, 2017 10:41 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Maybe it was subconscious or something, but it turns out that the ink wash page I picked for this week's special sale of original art from the A* archives, like today's new watercolor page, features two women in a corridor. In the case of the ink wash page—episode 16, page 21, it is, with the art measuring 17" x 7.5", slightly bigger (I left more off in the margins when scanning) than our modern watercolor pages—it was Selenis shadowing the ebullient proprietor of Stella's Starships as she proceeded into the back of her shop. This was from the very brief period in which I was using art pens to add sharp ink lines to the artwork, and I still like how they brought out the shadowy form of Selenis, looming there in her dark ink wash. I've kept thinking I'll do another figure that way some time but it hasn't really happened. But we still have this page, at least until the special sale price auction for it ends next week; you can find that auction right here.
 
The auction listing has high-res images; here are some low-res previews:
 
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Thanks for checking out the auction! : D (You'll also find similarly sale-priced auctions of the last week of new A* watercolor pages among my listings there on eBay.) We've got what umm I guess 15 or so ink pieces I've set aside for these weekly(-ish) sales left to go!
 
 
 
 
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  Oh hey there dry brushJul 18, 2017 10:24 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Trying to loosen up with the paint a bit and that reminded me that you can use brush stroke type as well as color to differentiate things. : j
 
 
 
 
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  Last week of the old A* original art prices!Jul 17, 2017 9:30 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:With the original art for today's page, I've hiked my starting bid price for the comic's original art from $14.99 to a whopping $16.99. : o As I mentioned earlier in the year, after I'd done my taxes and found I wasn't actually making much money to speak of on sales after art supply expenses and so forth were taken into account, my scheming master plan is to get the starting bid price up to $25; I'd said I was shooting for the end of the year on that, but I'm probably a little behind that curve in my incremental increases at the moment. Oh well, we'll get there some day. Gotta be able to afford to keep making the comic!
 
Anyway, thanks to everyone who's been bidding on my art. : ) Oh yeah and the auctions finishing this week—namely, the auctions for the original watercolor paintings behind last week's comic pages—still have their starting bid prices of $14.99, so you've still got those last chances to get in on the previous regime's price!
 
 
 
 
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  Bubble helmets 4evahJul 15, 2017 9:46 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Here's a sketch I got to send to a reader for supporting the comic through my Patreon campaign : ) :
 
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I wouldn't be able to keep making this comic without the support I get from readers through Patreon, so thank you all very much! You can pledge as little as $1 a month, which may not sound like a lot, but it's a big help to me. =")
 
 
 
 
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  Hadda open a new container of white inkJul 14, 2017 2:54 AM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:We will eliminate facial features until proportions come out right! Yah!
 
 
 
 
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  Don't crunch my numbersJul 13, 2017 12:45 AM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Another Wednesday archive art sale opportunity missed because I spent too long working on the page. :"| Probably used too many lines. : P
 
 
 
 
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  Hanny's Voorwerp and other strange thingsJul 11, 2017 10:02 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Galaxy Zoo: Citizen science trailblazer marks tenth birthday is a recent BBC article that mentions some colorful new types of space objects found by volunteers examining photos of outer space for the "Galaxy Zoo" citizen science project—things with informal names like Green Peas (possibly active starburst galaxies) and Yellow Balls ("early stages of massive star formation").
 
Most of the article revolves around another new type of space object a project volunteer found, which also received a catchy name: Hanny's Voorwerp. "Voorwerp" is Dutch for "thing" or "object"; those discussing the curious smudge Dutch schoolteacher Hanny van Arkel had spotted in a space survey photo she was examining didn't know what to make of it, so they just referred to it as "Hanny's thing" in Dutch, and, well, "voorwerp" is a pretty darn cool-sounding word for something in space, so it stuck—and since then, more "voorwerpen" or "voorwerpjes" ("small objects") have been found. Subsequent analysis by big guns of science, including instruments like the Hubble Space Telescope, has suggested they are vast clouds of intergalactic gas that have been ionized by powerful jets shooting out of actively feeding supermassive black holes at the center of adjacent galaxies, and subsequently set alight in a blaze of star formation by gas streaming out of that same galactic center. The galaxy next to Hanny's Voorwerp is not currently active, but the extra glow in the voorwerp's gases is thought to be an "echo" or reflection of a bright quasar event that took place at the galaxy's core 100,000 years ago.
 
Also don't miss the photo (in both the BBC and the Hanny's Voorwerp Wikipedia article) of the Teacup Galaxy—the reason for the name is obvious as soon as you see its picture. : D
 
 
 
 
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  If you never got your forum activation emailJul 11, 2017 12:38 AM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:If you tried signing up for the A* forum any time between December 4th of last year up until this past weekend, and never received your activation e-mail, well that's because I'd let the forum's mail settings get out of date...again...so um well check your inbox now, because some of those long-delayed e-mails have been automatically going out since I fixed the settings a few days ago. If you still don't have it, you can use the "Resend activation e-mail" link in the forum's login panel to have a fresh copy sent—and this time, it should actually be sent to you! : p
 
 
 
 
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  Circles are big in spaceJul 08, 2017 12:31 AM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Here's an ink sketch I sent to a reader for supporting the comic through my Patreon campaign—it's a huge help!
 
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Thank you! : DD
 
 
 
 
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  Up a dark alley with a classic A* art sale!Jul 06, 2017 9:34 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:I didn't manage it yesterday but let's call today an honorary Wednesday and have our weekly A* archive art sale! : D This week's selection is the original 17" x 7.5" (that's bigger than my modern 16" x 6.75" pages—I used to cut more off in the margins when scanning : P) ink illustration behind A* episode 18, page 2, where Selenis, clad in classic femme fatale style, stylishly makes her way through the proverbial dark alley. That's up for auction at a special low starting price for just the next week right here on eBay!
 
The auction listing has high resolution images where you can really zoom in and see all the crazy cross-and-other-styles-of-hatching I used on that page; here are tiny, blog-sized ones to pique your interest:
 
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Last week I said I had just 18 ink pieces left that I was gonna offer in these little weekly (usually Wednesday : P) sales, so I guess now I just have 17 left! And if A* art sales interest you, check out the other sales on my eBay—which always include at least the latest week's worth of new watercolor page illustrations!
 
 
 
 
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  Let's just pretend it isn't WednesdayJul 05, 2017 11:07 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:It's Wednesday and I should be putting up a specially selected page from the A* original art archives for sale on eBay alongside the usual new daily page paintings, but I spent way too long drawing today's page and now I don't have any time left for extra stuff tonight, doggone it. =p
 
 
 
 
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  Hey, tomorrow's a holiday!Jul 03, 2017 10:15 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:I'm off for the July 4th holiday tomorrow—back to work on a new page on the 5th, though! Whatever you'll be doing, have a nice Tuesday. : )
 
 
 
 
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  All businessJul 01, 2017 10:23 PM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Readers keep A* coming to you each day by supporting the comic for as little as a buck a month through Patreon! : D It makes a huge difference! And those daring even higher levels of support can get themselves unique A* rewards; here's a sketch I sent to one of those intrepid souls for their support:
 
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Thank you very much! : D Your support helps make this comic possible!
 
 
 
 
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