Ralph McQuarrie - Star Wars

ANH: This McQuarrie painting changed several times. Originally (TOP), the Imperial pilot was targeting a Y-Wing with an early Death Star prototype in the back. Later (MIDDLE), the Death Star changed into a planet, or possibly one of the moons of Yavin. Finally (BOTTOM), the Y-Wing was changed into the Millennium Falcon along with a more traditional shot of the Death Star.

ANH: In February 1975, McQuarrie completed his second painting for Star Wars. Simply titled “Laser Duel”, it would go on to become one of his most famous Star Wars paintings. It features LORD DARTH VADER, BLACK KNIGHT OF THE SITH (as described in the 2nd draft screenplay) pitted against Deak Starkiller. While commonly referred to as the “Luke versus Vader” painting (even by George Lucas), there was never a moment in the original screenplay where Luke and Vader faced off with lightsabers.

ROS: Even though Ralph McQuarrie passed away in 2012, his concept sketches continue to influence the look and feel of the Star Wars universe.  This unused sketch of the Emperor's throne originally created for "Return of the Jedi" was the inspiration for the Emperor's throne in the upcoming "Rise of Skywalker" movie. SPOILER: The Emperor isn't dead after all!

BOOK: The Empire Strikes Back novel featured the poster artwork from Roger Kastel, so it was generally assumed that McQuarrie had stopped working on artwork for the novel. In fact, McQuarrie had produced a "trimmed down" version of his production artwork showing Luke in his downed snowspeeder with an AT-AT looming in the background.

TFA: Rey’s outfit appears to be partially inspired by early drawings fom Ralph McQuarrie for Luke Skywalker at a point when George Lucas was toying with the idea of Luke's character being female.

TFA: It's good to see that JJ and the folks working on The Force Awakens are still looking to Ralph McQuarrie for inspiration. The top 2 photos are pictures of the new snowtrooper costumes on display at the Star Wars Celebration 2015 in Anaheim. The backpack is very similar to the one shown in the McQuarrie painting (below), and the insignia on the snowtrooper’s chest matches the one used on the helmet in McQuarrie's painting.

ESB: EVOLUTION OF A SCENE: Top: How Ralph McQuarrie envisioned the final scene in The Empire Strikes Back. Middle: What it looked like during filming with blue screen. Bottom: What we all saw in the theaters back in 1980.

ANH: This Ralph McQuarrie concept poster was created back when the Luke Skywalker character was still a young girl, C-3PO was a female Robot, R2-D2 was a 3-legged droid, and Han Solo carried a light saber rather than a blaster. I’m glad George Lucas eventually got things sorted out…

ANH: That's no moon! Ralph McQuarrie matte painting of the Death Star (top) shows the laser array on the equator of the battle station. Apparently, George Lucas decided rather late in production that he'd prefer the laser array in a different location. As such, the computer graphics shown during the rebel briefing on Yavin IV also show the laser array on the equator.

ANH: This sequence of images shows Ralph McQuarrie's original concept sketch for the rebel "crow's nest" on Yavin IV (left), filming of the scene in Guatemala (top right), and how the scene finally looked on the big screen (Special Edition).

ANH: In the beginning of Star Wars, Vader and stormtroopers board the Tantive IV and engage in a firefight with the Rebels. This Ralph McQuarrie sketch shows a slain stormtrooper lying on the ground, with the dark image of Darth Vader looming in the background. Often, you'll see this image rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise, and the stormtrooper appears to be leaning on a wall. (At the bottom are various stormtrooper helmet concept sketches).

ROTJ: Coruscant's water needs are met by huge pipelines carrying melted ice from the polar caps of the planet and then transporting that water to various destinations across the planet. In this painting, you can see the relative size of people and trucks next to the huge pipes.

ANH: Early Ralph McQuarrie concept sketch of C-3PO. George Lucas was "looking for a Robot like Maria from Metropolis --- only a boy", and this is what McQuarrie came up with.

TESB: I love seeing how a quick sketch done in a matter of minutes transforms into a gorgeous production painting. In the top sketch, Ralph McQuarrie manages to take an image that is trapped in his head and put it down on paper. Then, with the skill of a true artist, he transforms that sketch into a fabulous piece of art. This painting shows the exterior of the Rebel base on Hoth.

TESB: This painting was done as an establishing shot for a promotional trailer released in European theaters. We see Hoth as a sphere of ice textured in shades of blue and white. Painted with camera movement in mind, there is great perspective if you focus past the bottom of the Star Destroyer and onto Hoth's distant moon.