Ralph McQuarrie

Ralph McQuarrie Remembered

5 March 2012

Ralph McQuarrie was one of those extremely bizarre humans gifted with the power to see and talk to aliens. He was so lucky that being a kid, and way before he moved to California in the 60s, these invited him for a few extraterrestrial trips.

I think the rest of his story, achievements and career, from Boeing & CBS to his latest work with Spielberg, are worldwide known by pretty much every sci-fi fan, especially Star Wars ones.

Starworks artwork by Ralph McQuarrie (image from Starwars.com)
Starworks artwork by Ralph McQuarrie (image from Starwars.com)

Unfortunately for us all McQuarrie just passed away at the age of 82 yesterday in his Berkeley home. The artist considered by many the co-creator of George Lucas’ famous saga had not only won an Academy Award for his work on Cocoon but inspired and pretty much imposed a way of conceiving the outer space, the bad aliens but also the most likable and chilren-friendly ones…. (*batteries not included, E.T….).

Starworks artwork by Ralph McQuarrie - 2
Starworks artwork by Ralph McQuarrie - 2 (image via Starwars.com)

Besides visiting his website or facebook page please consider spending a few minutes visiting the dedicated sub-page the people @ Starwars.com have created for him with a slideshow covering some of the best Star Wars concept and licensed paintings by the Indiana space traveler.

Starworks artwork by Ralph McQuarrie - 3
Starworks artwork by Ralph McQuarrie - 3
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