The Author
I am currently a Post Doctoral Fellow studying Neuroscience.
Obviously I like LEGO bricks and have quite a few, but in addition I enjoy Dancing, Ballroom and Swing specifically, reading, writing, (not arithmetic), watching good (and bad) science fiction, and spending time with my wife, family, and her family (and our dog).
I am very much in love with my wife who not only accepts my obsession with LEGO bricks but has contributed and enjoys playing with them herself. It was she who suggested we have LEGO cake toppers at our wedding and LEGO favors with our names on them for the guests.
Being a Post-Doc leaves me with little time for much else.
The Comic
Legostar Galactica began on a lark. I made the first comic just sort of as amusement and my friends seemed to like it. So I made another, and another and very quickly was able to produce a weeks worth in a an hour or two over the weekend, so I adopted that habit and have kept it up ever since.
The name came from a brainstorming session with my friend Jen, I can’t remember exactly what she threw out but it was close to the final result. It’s odd that up to this point I haven’t actually made any direct Battlestar Galactica jokes…
As may be obvious I’m a Scifi nut, and in addition to the regular jokes Legostar is filled with many obscure scifi and other references, a few that only a select few people I grew up with will ever get. I do try to make even those jokes accessible in part to a larger audience and to date I haven’t heard any complaints.
I don’t draw as badly as I claim, but it’s not up to my satisfaction and I’m not able to produce comics of a caliber I’m satisfied with (type A personality) on a regular basis and I’d rather not be the type of person that ends up going from 5 days a week, to 3 days a week, to once a week, to whenever, especially since I don’t have free time in excess.
The Process
I have on several occasions been asked how I go about making my comic, so here in summary is the process.
Scripts are written ahead of time using either Keynote or directly in Photoshop. Sets and characters are built using LEGO brand bricks (obviously). Once the sets and characters are built and set up pictures are taken with an Olympus 4 megapixel digital camera (early comics used a slightly older model, many of these can be noted due to a single blue pixel hanging out in the picture). Pictures are uploaded to the computer and put into Photoshop in a pre-designed comic template which features the outer border (and often individual frames for the four panel setup). Images are sized and text is shuffled around. Special effects are added via Photoshop, or in some cases complex 3D background are added in after being created in KPT Bryce. Word bubbles are generated on another layer which then has the blending option “Stroke” added to it, at 1 pixel width and black color. The comic is then flattened and saved as a jpg. Comics are then uploaded for your viewing pleasure.
