Astra was born and raised in Victoria, Canada. An only child, she found ways of entertaining herself through self-taught drawing, singing, sewing, painting, writing and creating worlds for her numerous stories. The majority of Astra's art features her original fantasy characters, from Steampunk to sci-fi to high medieval fantasy genres. She is a published author for her Ul-Zaorith novels, runs multiple web comic projects, and hopes to someday put out the related table-top role-playing game Ul-Zaorith: Otherworlds for which she is already working on illustrations and writing. She also freelances for children's books illustrations, book cover design, tattoo design, game design, clothing modification and creation, and character illustration.
Current Residence: Canada/Ul-Zaorith
Favourite genre of music: alternative, contemporary, classic rock, classical, etc.
Favourite style of art: strong line-art, soft colour, dynamic manga,
Operating System: PC
MP3 player of choice: Winamp: tried, tested and true.
Favourite cartoon character: Zuko & Iroh, Jessica Rabbit, Nightwing, Wiccan & Hulkling,
Personal Quote: What is to give light must first endure burning.
Favourite Visual Artist
Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Leonardo da Vinci, Alphonse Mucha, Bernini, Heironymus Bosch, Nanae Kurono, CLAMP, etc.
Favourite Movies
American Beauty, War of the Buttons, Boondock Saints, Dogma, Love Actually, Robin Hood:Men in Tights, Incredibles, Iron Giant, Beauty & the Beast, Prince of Egypt, Road to El Dorado, Charlie Bartlett, What Dreams May Come, etc.
Favourite TV Shows
Doctor Who, 6 Feet Under, Queer as Folk, Supernatural, Glee, Torchwood, X-Files, Trigun, Outlaw Star, Escaflowne, Fushigi Yuugi, etc.
Favourite Bands / Musical Artists
Florence and the Machine, Adele, Gackt, Skindive, VAST, Queen, Sarah McLaughlin, Imogen Heap, Bowling for Soup, Switchfoot, Jewel, etc.
Favourite Books
Tigana, The Blade Itself Trilogy, Lions of Al-Rassan, Secret World of Og, Count of Monte Cristo, Atlas Shrugged, Metamorphoses, Harry Potter series, Series of Unfortunate Events series, Good Omens, Anansi Boys, Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy of five, etc.
Favourite Writers
Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Douglas Adams, Scott Bakker, Guy Gavriel Kay, etc.
Favourite Games
RPGs, PoP, sc2, kingdom hearts, ff:cc
Favourite Gaming Platform
gamecuuube ~ 'tis indestructable!!!
Tools of the Trade
Ballpoint pens, Photoshop CS6, mechanical pencils, Apica notebooks
Other Interests
fantasy, writing, drawing, cosplay, crafting, manga, movies, music!