I just spent a few minutes looking at the stuff he worked on, and I had forgotten all the stuff besides Star Wars: BSG, Star Trek TNG, so many others. He was an amazing talent.

Original concept for the Falcon:

So cool!

Oh, jeez. That's a shame, losing such a talented fellow. I don't even like Star Wars, and I know who Ralph McQuarrie is.

Aw crap, another beloved chunk of my childhood gone. RIP awesome artist man.

....and the world is poorer for his passing.

Have one of his Star Wars paintings hanging on my wall. Remember that painting of the Sand Person??? fighting Darth Vader as a kid. Was all hyped to see it when the movie came out, was heart broken when it wasn't in the movie. Damn you 'Monsters of Filmland' you lied to me!!!

Beedeebeedeebeedee, Ralph.

calbert: Mugato: I didn't even know he did this.

[dreamsandvisionspress.com image 576x379]

what's that supposed to be coming out of there?

Lightning. Fire. Power of God or something.

Also for those of you who are unaware, the Starfighters used in Buck Rogers were originally designed by RMQ to be the Vipers in the original Battlestar Galactica. Obviously they went a different direction, so Glen A. Larson recycled the design for Buck Rogers

(A separate CSB - I saw the original Buck Rogers movie in the theater in 1979 - even at age 7 going on 8, I knew Wilma and Ardala were smokin' hot.)

Mugato: His work would be pieces of art even if a single frame of the films he worked on hadn't been shot. His concept drawings were incredible in their own right and then his matte paintings were a completely separate level of art. He voluntarily opted out of working on the Star Wars prequels and I think it's safe to say that they suffered as a result. A true era of movie making history has ended today.



well said Mug.

that Darth Lucas took so much credit for McQ's vision and talent over the years is beyond me.

Mugato: Original Falcon

[dayofthejedi.com image 640x480]

yeah, that became the blockade runner..
interesting to note that that was done 75-76? and that was for the cloud city that later became Bespin...
with a death star hanger....

Lucas recycled a lot of ideas so his "canon" is all "full of holes" as they say...

Homertron: Have one of his Star Wars paintings hanging on my wall. Remember that painting of the Sand Person??? fighting Darth Vader as a kid. Was all hyped to see it when the movie came out, was heart broken when it wasn't in the movie. Damn you 'Monsters of Filmland' you lied to me!!!

a print or an original?

Aboleth: [img.photobucket.com image 640x419]

Beedeebeedeebeedee, Ralph.

Holy cow...I never realized he did the Buck Rogers spacecraft, too!

Mofo_Jones: I saw the original Buck Rogers movie in the theater in 1979

Probably not correct

82 is a good innings and he left behind a huge imprint on the minds of everyone, in the west at least.

James Scameron: Homertron: Have one of his Star Wars paintings hanging on my wall. Remember that painting of the Sand Person??? fighting Darth Vader as a kid. Was all hyped to see it when the movie came out, was heart broken when it wasn't in the movie. Damn you 'Monsters of Filmland' you lied to me!!!

a print or an original?

Oh it's print, picked it up in New Orleans. Original no, I'd probably end up sleeping with that.

ArkAngel: Link (new window)

A book full of his Star Wars art. Bought it about a decade ago. May have to buy a new copy

What's awesome about that book is that most of the artwork (and I believe all of the ones shown in that Amazon preview) are all brand new at the time, commissioned specifically for this book in the mid 90s. One of the Coruscant paintings for this book was made into a 3D environment for one of The Clone Wars episodes.

There there. Don't be too upset. Rob Liefeld is still around.

Damn! I was going to go to a topless bar on Mustafar with him!

Wow. What a list of credits.

timharrod:

Here, by the way, is a peek at the first-ever piece of Star Wars merch. On bookstore shelves December 1976, five months before the first movie.

[i235.photobucket.com image 467x800]



My brother bought this before the movie... one of the main reasons I wanted to see it. Wonder if he still has it.

This is very, very sad.

Farewell to the the Chesley Bonstell of my generation.

Link (new window)

Frothy Panties: This is very, very sad.

Farewell to the the Chesley Bonstell of my generation.

Link (new window)

wow. you are the one other person who knows who Chesley Bonstell is.....

/now i must kill you..

(old Star Wars joke...)

LesserEvil: Ghastly: TV's Vinnie:

You mean he wasn't responsible for Jaxxon:

[images.wikia.com image 640x546]

/Yes, collected those early Star Wars comics back in the day

I still have those somewhere. I can still remember reading the battle scene in time to the "Ben's Death/Tie Fighter Attack" score on the soundtrack.

CSB: Several years ago I went out to L.A. for my friend's 30th birthday. We went to Grauman's Chinese one day and in the giftshop they had some small prints of his drawing of the theater. I got one for me and one for my friend. Their were two different colors of matting and we both picked the same color. After checking out I decided I liked the other color better and asked if I could swap mine out. Was told "No problem." It was only after getting home I realised their was another difference. The one I ended up with was hand signed and numbered and cost quite a bit more. Oops!

thefatbasturd: CSB: Several years ago I went out to L.A. for my friend's 30th birthday. We went to Grauman's Chinese one day and in the giftshop they had some small prints of his drawing of the theater. I got one for me and one for my friend. Their were two different colors of matting and we both picked the same color. After checking out I decided I liked the other color better and asked if I could swap mine out. Was told "No problem." It was only after getting home I realised their was another difference. The one I ended up with was hand signed and numbered and cost quite a bit more. Oops!

pictures or it didn't happen