A CAREER IN COLOR; DIGITAL PAINTER BRIGHTENS UP THE TV BACKGROUND.

Byline: David Greenberg Staff Writer

Kevin Gallegly, a computer animation artist on ``Rugrats'' and other Nickelodeon TV series, has never shown much of an interest in tracing the footsteps of his father, longtime Ventura County Congressman Elton Gallegly.

His happy but uneventful childhood in a rural Simi Valley that long ago went by the strip-mall wayside played a significant role in his behind-the-scenes Hollywood career.

``There's not much to do in Simi Valley,'' said Gallegly, 29, who now lives in Thousand Oaks. ``I describe it as a great place to live but I wouldn't want to visit there.

``I always enjoyed drawing. Asthma kept me indoors more. It kept my imagination going. I had more time to think instead of running around,'' he said.

Since December 1996, Gallegly has worked for Klasky Csupo as a computer colorist or ``digital painter,'' eventually becoming a department supervisor.

The animation production company is responsible for the long-running ``Rugrats'' television series and the ``Rugrats'' movie, which last March became the first non-Disney animated movie to gross $100 million domestically.

Besides his work on the television series, Gallegly has lent his color sensibilities to Nickelodeon's ``The Wild Thornberries,'' which debuted last year, and ``Duckman,'' which wrapped up its third and final season in the spring of 1997.

His latest work will be seen on ``Rocket Power,'' an Extreme Sports-inspired cartoon that will premier Aug. 16.

``It's a challenge each week,'' Gallegly said. ``We're trying to create while making a deadline. Trying to keep ideas fresh keeps you from going crazy. You don't just want to fall into an (artistic) routine.''

Because each half-hour cartoon - 22 minutes long without commercials - requires an average of 31,680 frames, Klasky Csupo must begin production on a series six months to a year in advance of its airing.

Working from a script, artists sketch the main characters and synchronize their actions with voice-overs performed by such actors as Jason Alexander, Tim Curry and Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist Flea. Another staff of artists creates the background scenery, ``extra'' characters, props and costume changes.

Those drawings are photocopied and sent to Gallegly's six-person department for coloring, a process that adds dimension to the scene, bringing it to life and dictating its atmosphere.

``He's really conscientious about the animation,'' said Susan Ward, ``Rocket Power's'' producer. ``It's very tempting for colorists to make this dominating background. Kevin pays attention to the whole picture.''

Gallegly's use of colors and light stem from any real-life visual snapshot that catches his attention: the way a late afternoon sunlight dances off a building or a haunting glow illuminating from a Halloween pumpkin.

He appreciates the compliments that come his way but realizes that much of the public does not realize his craft is more than coloring by numbers.

``Sometimes we might get a bum wrap,'' he said. ``People think our job is easier than it actually is. My reaction is usually to say, `It's more involved than that. Try watching a cartoon without color.' Not everybody can do the job. It requires knowledge of color theory and atmospheric perspective. There is a skill involved.''

His artistic skills evolved from painting classes he took in Simi Valley beginning at age 7, right around the time he took a field trip to see ``Star Wars'' at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

``Visually, it was just amazing,'' Gallegly said. ``It had more to it than just science fiction. And it had a deeper story to it than just good-guy-bad-guy.''

About this time, his father's political career was taking off. Elton Gallegly was elected to the Simi Valley City Council in 1979, and in 1982 became the city's first elected mayor. He held that post until he was elected to Congress, and in 1998 the Republican won his seventh term as the 23rd District representative.

Kevin gave politics a shot, being elected president of his ninth-grade class at Sinaloa Junior High School. His duties, however, amounted to little more than reading the Pledge of Allegiance and the morning student report over the public address system.

``I was more of a figurehead,'' he said. ``That was the end of my political career.''

It was also the beginning of some tension within the close-knit Gallegly family. Kevin Gallegly had resumed his painting at Royal High School and decided he wanted to pursue a career as an artist.

``I would be less than candid if I said I did not have a few sleepless moments about whether he can make a living in art,'' Elton Gallegly said. ``But the most important thing a parent can do is give their children all the support you can and let them chart their own course.''

The younger Gallegly took four years to graduate from Moorpark College - dividing his time between his art classes and his short-lived front-man duties with the rock band ``The Juice Whistles.''

Next came the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where he graduated in 1994 with a fine arts degree, focusing on illustration.

``That's where I got my interest on the computer,'' Kevin said, ``and I just never looked back.''

While at Moorpark College, he joined an anti-war movement as America geared up for battle in the Persian Gulf.

On the very day his father the congressman introduced a bill authorizing President Bush to use military force to liberate Kuwait, Kevin Gallegly was marching in a peace rally on the Moorpark College campus.

Kevin largely avoided discussing the political contrasts with reporters who descended upon the Moorpark campus.

``I could have been a real jackass, but I didn't want to make life difficult at home,'' he said. ``I just wanted to establish my own identity.''

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo: (1 -- 5 -- color) Kevin Gallegly, 29, is a computer colorist whose production credits include, clockwise from bottom, ``Duckman,'' ``Rugrats,'' ``Rocket Power,'' and ``Wild Thornberrys.''

(6) Kevin Gallegly, 29, a computer colorist on such hit TV shows as ``Rugrats,'' is also the son of Ventura County Congressman Elton Gallegly.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer