When I was a bright-eyed ten year old kid there were three people who bought me Star Wars: George Lucas, Ralph McQuarrie and John Williams. In the historic days before the information overload of the internet us Star Wars fans had access to very little in the way of media, or at least we could only afford so much as children, and for me it was always the music and the art books. I had the albums on vinyl and cassette and I had the novelisation and, most importantly, I had books with lots and lots of pictures in them.
Invariably the illustrations were by the amazing Ralph McQuarrie, the artist who was most likely the very reason George Lucas got the original film made, illustrating his vision the way he did to present to the studios. My favourite possessions will always be the portfolios of the original trilogy, with the large widescreen-style prints of his greatest work. I’m no artist or art critic but there was always a lot of energy in the illustrations, moments of high adventure frozen in time, and there was also the sense that Ralph was illustrating the things that you didn’t see in the movies – those little instances just off-camera such as a tauntaun being chased by Imperial walkers or Rebel troops freezing in the trenches of Hoth. The original concepts were just as amazing as what appeared on the big screen and more often than not I’d find myself wondering what it would have been like if this had looked like that, or how much better it would have been if it had looked like its original design. In fact, there’ so much amazing conceptual art you could quite easily build several epic movies from them, and not just Star Wars.
Ralph McQuarrie passed away on March 3rd and his departure has left a huge hole in the creative community as well as the Star Wars one. A part of many childhoods – that wide-eyed-wonder at the imagery of new worlds – feels that much farther behind us now. But the sense of loss, for us fans, will be filled again in time because Mr McQuarrie left such a huge body of work for so many different movies and shows – Star Trek, E.T., Cocoon, Battlestar Galactica to name but a few – that there’s plenty of material to soak up and marvel at, incredible designs that will allow creative minds to flourish. We will always have that window into his imagination.
Ralph McQuarrie sparked the creative fire in people of all kinds; his illustrations inspired artists, his designs inspired writers such as myself, his imagination inspired movie makers. He has a lasting legacy that will be felt for decades to come and his talent will be the benchmark for the following generations of artists and filmmakers.
So farewell, Mr McQuarrie – be safe in the knowledge that what you have created, your unique vision of worlds that never were or will be, will live on in the hearts and minds of those that will always admire and miss you.