Ralph McQuarrie (1929-2012) was an American conceptual designer and illustrator. He had a keen sense of aesthetics and imagination that set him apart from other illustrators. So he was a natural choice for George Lucas, who looked to him for inspiration for the Star Wars trilogy.
McQuarrie was responsible for designing many of the film’s characters, including Darth Vader, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO. He was also responsible for the conceptual design of the film sets and props.
” I just did my best to depict how I thought the film should look, I really liked the idea. I didn’t think the film would get made. My impression was it was too expensive. I thought there wouldn’t be enough of an audience. It’s too complicated. But George knew a lot of things that I didn’t know.”
It was McQuarrie who came up with the idea for Darth Vader to wear a breathing apparatus to survive the vacuum of space. George Lucas then added the samurai helmet and Darth Vader was born.
McQuarrie is an example of what a mind set free by creativity can achieve. The book Star Wars: The Art of Ralph McQuarrie is available through Dream and Visions Press.
Content Catnip 
I love this post!!! And I’m not even a big Star Wars fan, but this is just really cool.
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Me too Jules. I’m not big into it either but I had to make an exception for this because it was so beautiful.
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Thanks for this wonderful trip down memory lane!!
I have a great interest in concept and production art for movies, games and television.
I discovered Ralph McQuarrie’s work just before he started working on Star Wars. He quickly became my favorite movie production artist. Mr. McQuarrie also worked on the original Battlestar Galactica television show and Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.
Many of his best works were in the form of paperback book covers that he did during the 1990s.
In my mind McQuarrie set the visual language for the Star wars films and it’s great that you’re bringing his work to a wider audience.
Best Regards,
Eric
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I love that you know all about this Eric. I knew this was the case just from looking at your work! I am sorry i was meant to link back to you – for this very reason, will do this now.
So evocative his paintings and so classical. They seem to have been copied so many times elsewhere by other artists.
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And something else that may inspire you (but completely off topic) Here are some amazing public domain photos from old books – COOL http://stevenpoke.com/
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Gosh, it’s amazing how well you read my interests in art.
First off I’d like to mention that I learned to read in the early-1960s when I was about 5 or 6 years old. My dad bought me my first Marvel comics and a dictionary. He showed me how to use the dictionary and things went from there. This explains why I prefer to tell stories using words and pictures.
When I was in high school I took an interest in the artists who inspired the comic book creators I’d read as a youth. I found that most influences came from the book illustrators of the late 1800s and early 1900s. These artists included Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Thomas Mackenzie, Rene’ Bull, Charles and William Heath Robinson, N.C. Wyeth, Franklin Booth and Sir William Russell Flint.
(BTW_In my opinion, William Russell Flint is the finest watercolorist to have ever lived–EG)
I also found that American comic books were inspired, in part, by the Japanese woodblock print artists. These prints featured black outlines and bright primary colors that are the trademarks of American newspaper strips and comic books. My favorite Japanese woodblock artists are Katsushika Hokusai (known for his landscape scenes including the famous “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”) and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (known for his prints of the supernatural and (in)famous murders).
This is why I love movie and game production art so much. The styles have much in common with both comics and the Japanese prints.
Thanks for the cool link to stevenpoke.com. I’ll be visiting his site often.
Very Best Regards,
Eric
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