The success of Star Wars owes everything to the look and feel of the universe that the films portrayed on the big screen.

Unlike the whitewashed sci-fi visuals that had gone before, Star Wars looked lived in, the worlds and the spaceships all looked like they could actually have existed a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. This is all down to Ralph McQuarrie.

When George Lucas was rasing eyebrows trying to convince Hollywood that his Star Wars idea was actually worth a punt, it was Ralph McQuarrie’s art that swayed them. We own him for Star Wars.

Ralph McQuarrie is no longer with us. He died on 3rd March aged 82.

For me I’ll always remember seeing his concept illustrations for Star Wars. How some looked almost 100% like the movie and how other looked bizarrely different. As a little kid I wondered who drew the pictures so wrong. As an adult I would marvel over Ralph’s images in his Star Wars portfolio.

Rest in Peace.

Take a look at the work of the incredibly talented man here. Read more about Ralph’s passing at aintitcool.com.