This isn’t puppet-related, but I want to send a link along because it’s about good design. Specifically, it’s about Ralph McQuarrie, famous concept artist on the Star Wars saga. He apparently did concept sketches for Battlestar Galactica, and I just saw a link today of some paintings he did relating to the project. From the galactica.tv page about the concept art:

Next to doing concept sketches for the designs of the ships and aliens on Battlestar Galactica 1978, Ralph McQuarrie was also asked to paint 24 color images to be used on the first script of the pilot “Saga of a Star World”. This script (of which only 50 were printed) was written to convince the studios to pick up this costly project and the illustrations helped to explain and visualize the story. This gallery shows, for the first time, a complete set of those 24 color images.

Say what you will about the original Galactica — I, for example, will say it was a hideously awful show, with poor writing and poor performances across the board — McQuarrie’s a great designer. And having seen the original Galactica movie fairly recently, I have to say how impressed I am at how faithfully they recreated those painted moments on the screen; top notch work, even if there wasn’t the script to back it up.

Check out all of the concept art by going here.

(I should point out that for all its faults, if not for the original Galactica there wouldn’t be the current version, and as much as I loathe the original, I love the reimagining, and so have to give the original some credit for being a great idea, however poorly executed. And, hey, if it had been wonderfully executed, the re-imagining wouldn’t have been necessary. So, thanks for sucking, original Battlestar Galactica!)