Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." ...in the later months of 1977, Ballantine Books published a special product: the Star Wars Portfolio , a collection of 21 production paintings created to inspire the craftsmen and women who helped realize the vision of filmmaker George Lucas in his epic motion picture, "Star Wars." This unique piece of early "Star Wars" merchandise was followed by similar portfolio editions of the succeeding movies in the "Star Wars" Original Trilogy, the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Portfolio (24 Art Prints in Cardstock Envelope) and the Return of the Jedi Portfolio . The man behind these paintings would soon become a legendary figure in the history of the beloved "Star Wars" Saga, Ralph McQuarrie. "Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie" is a massive 2 volume tribute to this talented illustrator and in this "Star Wars" fan's opinion, one of the most definitive books on the Saga ever published. The 2 books that comprise this collection are hardcover tomes with black cloth covers, each adorned with a black and white reproduction of sketches drawn by Mr. McQuarrie: both are contained within a similarly designed slipcase which features a full color reprinting of a production painting of early versions of the droid duo C-3PO and R2-D2. Weighing approximately 20 pounds (I couldn't resist putting it on a scale!), this is a serious and stunning set of art books! It should be understood by the reader and collector that much of the material in these volumes has been published before in the many different books and other publications released about the Saga since "The Star Wars Portfolio," such as: The Art of Star Wars, Episode IV - A New Hope book by Carol Titelman, first published in 1979 and revised for the "Star Wars Special Edition" in 1997, along with its Original Trilogy sequel volumes, The Art of Star Wars, Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back by Vic Bulluck and Valerie Hoffman, and The Art of Star Wars, Episode VI - Return of the Jedi ; and The Illustrated Star Wars Universe (Star Wars) by Mr. McQuarrie and Kevin Anderson, first released in 1997. Many additional pieces of previously unreleased production art were displayed in the limited edition treasure The Art of Ralph McQuarrie by John David Scoleri and Stan Stice, published in 2007 by Dream and Visions Press. The books in this collection add to those previous tomes with an even greater wealth of never before released art by Mr. McQuarrie. The true achievement of this very special edition is that it compiles all of Mr. McQuarrie's colossal creative contribution to the "Star Wars" phenomenon in one published work. For fans of the Saga, these books reveal the immense, imaginative vision of this gifted artist and also showcase the lasting influence Mr. McQuarrie still has on the ongoing "Star Wars" mythology that is cherished around the world. As the reader immerses him or herself into this collection, they will find themselves taken to the very beginning of the "Star Wars" Saga as George Lucas and Mr. McQuarrie collaborate in bringing to life "a galaxy far, far away." From Mr. Lucas' sparse pencil sketches of his initial toughts on the designs of the X-Wing and Tie Fighter craft, Mr. McQuarrie's fully painted production illustrations of the distinctive space ships soaring into battle to the evolving realizations of the vast and various characters and worlds in the "Star Wars" universe, this multi-volume set can be considered the ultimate book of Genesis in understanding the birth and ever growing saga that is "Star Wars." A highlight of this tome are the expanded reproductions of many of Mr. McQuarrie's famous conceptual paintings. These "detail" images give the reader the opportunity to more closely examine the technique of the artist. As someone who has been fortunate enough to have actually seen some of Mr. McQuarrie's original production paintings at a "Star Wars Celebration" convention, this reviewer was very grateful to have the chance to more fully gaze at these remarkable renderings. The original works of concept art are surprisingly modest in their true dimensions but the power and sense of scope they invoke have always been awe-inspiring. Paging through these volumes, the reader will discover that sense of grandeur again and again. Another highlight of this collection is the accompanying text, researched and compiled from the Lucasfilm archives and edited by Brandon Alinger, David Mandel, and Wade Lageose. Interspersed throughout the 2 volumes this enlightening companion to the wide variety of artwork provides contextual history and rewarding remembrances from Mr. McQuarrie and other artisans in the creation of these cherished works of space fantasy art. An example of these recollections is the following quote from Craig Barron, a matte photographer and longtime friend to the artist: "Star Wars is an entire world created by George's imagination, realized by Ralph's illustrations. It's a timeless universe with its distinct technology and history. It exists whenever you're watching it. It has magic to it." How true. Magnificent in its size, weight and collected contents, "Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie" is quite simply one of the greatest books ever published on the "Star Wars" Saga. It is a volume I happily give my very highest recommendation. May the Force be with you, always!

I think it would be important for me to qualify my background briefly before my statements regarding these volumes; I am an illustrator and fine artist with more than two decades of professional production, education, and exhibition experience. In recent years, I’ve turned my attention to concept art and design for the entertainment industry, and as such I have looked to keep on hand not only imagery that fuels my creativity as I strive to reach that next level, but the creative visions that remind me of the excitement and enthusiasm that inspired me to become an artist in the first place. To that end, I could not purchase a better book. These lavishly (profusely so) illustrated volumes could be textbooks for an entertainment concept design curriculum. I say this, of course, with an understanding of the range of sophisticated digital software tools available to artists today – this compilation, full of hand-crafted art, is a powerful testament to the creativity and talent of Ralph McQuarrie, whose visions based on George Lucas’ early Star Wars scripts left an indelible mark on film history and popular culture. Despite owning several volumes that feature the artwork and design for the original trilogy of Star Wars films… I was shocked at the number of images I had never seen before. And, I’m not talking about “after thought” sketches or doodles – these are fully-realized conceptual designs in pencil, ink, marker, and paint. Hundreds of them. Content? If Ralph McQuarrie sneezed in 1976, and the tissue looked like a tie-fighter, I swear it’s in this collection. I joke, but the point is you’ll see where the design work for these ground-breaking films took many (wrong) directions before arriving at the designs that became iconic, which of course is a powerful lesson for any aspiring conceptual designer to understand. With pencils, markers, paint… and a trusty photocopier… you see here, in chronological order, McQuarrie crafting Star Wars with his hands through sheer talent and tenacity. This book is also notated with interesting side stories about the artwork, the context and purpose for the art, its use in the final films. There are even stories that help you to understand Mr. McQuarrie as a person – a look at the problem solver that McQuarrie, and the many pioneers at ILM, had to be. The reproductions in these volumes are worthy of its subject, and they are presented with clear, large, and concise details that would impress any museum curator – indeed, if the 2,000 works of art in these volumes was a touring museum exhibition, this could be its catalog. Of course, Ralph McQuarrie’s work speaks for itself, and it is presented in these beautiful hardcover volumes in a manner that does absolute justice not only to the history of these influential films, but to the artist himself.

This is collection of McQuarrie art that has been lavishly put together in two very thick and very heavy volumes! The print and paper quality is high end and excellent! This printed collection of all of McQuarrie's painting concepts, sketches, roughs and initial concept painting variations and final finished painted concepts is well worth the price of this large format book volumes! If you're a Star Wars fan and have the financial means to purchase this two volume book set, this is THE Star Wars Art books to purchase and own! I feel very lucky to be able to have gotten the chance to purchase and own a copy of this two voulme set! I am a BIG Ralph McQuarrie Star Wars concept art fan! I was only able to get the very first set of Star Wars art portfolio painting set when I was very young. I never got an opportunity to get the other two McQuarrie portfolio concept art paintings for "The Empire Strikes Back" or "The Return of the Jedi' or the first McQuarrie art book from 2007 (BIG $$$,now). So, I feel very lucky to have obtained this collection of Mr. McQuarrie's art. Photos of sketches and initial drawn painting concepts are large in size! Many painting images span the full 2-page spread across the binding, which is not ideal, but allows nearly the same size images found in the older printed portfolio series from the late 1970's! It, also, allows many of the final concepts paintings and variations to fill a nearly full width and height, 2-page book spread that allows for a very good image size for perusing all of the details in all of these larger printed Star Wars concept paintings! Puts the "Illustrated Star Wars" book to shame as all of the McQuarrie art in that book is tiny and very underwhelming! (See my review of that book title!) This is THE Star Wars art book collection to own!

As a boy I had McQuarrie's art from the STAR WARS portfolio covering the walls of my room. I bought all the poster books that had his art. I read everything I could about him in STARLOG. All these years I dreamed that someone would create a definitive release of his work. Today a huge box arrived and now I can't stop smiling. I appreciated that the set was double boxed. No dings. It's huge and heavy, on par with STAR WARS FRAMES. Maybe heavier. My only complaint is that some of my favorite paintings are reproduced as a 2-page spread and they suffer because of the gutter distorting the image. The upside is the detail visible. The binding is nicely sewn so the book opens mostly flat. And I am delighted by how much TEXT there is to read. This is a set of books I will enjoy and come back to again and again for the rest of my life. I haven't been as excited about a Star Wars book since Rinzler's THE MAKING OF STAR WARS. Truth be told, this set may be only second to that series. Why specifically? McQuarrie rarely kept his early renderings. When Lucas wanted a change, McQuarrie just painted over whatever Lucas wanted fixed. Because copies of the paintings were made immediately for distribution to the designers of the movie, each version of his paintings was unintentionally saved from the dust bin of history. Not only does this set include the studies for his paintings, but EVERY version of each painting (with commentary). It's more than I could have ever hoped for. The printing and color are first rate. The only painting that could possibly be missing as far as I can tell is the night time establishing shot of Chewbacca's house in the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL, but it's unclear if McQuarrie created that painting. The rest of his paintings, studies, sketches, Christmas cards, doodles, pop-up books, posters, storyboards and even drawings fans rescued from Lucasfilm's trash bins are here. Really too wonderful for words. I thought of how STAR WARS changed the way movies were made and seen, how it opened the door for everything that followed from Lucas, how it inspired the lives of so many artists, including my own. Then I realized that without these drawings, none of that would have happened the way it happened, because some of the art in these volumes helped convince the studio to proceed with pre-production on STAR WARS when they may have been considering pulling the plug because they had no idea, visually, what it was about. In my opinion this is among the most important Star Wars books ever released.

Honestly this surprised me. I didn't read the product specifications, so when it came in the mail I was shocked by how huge and heavy it is. This is NOT your standard coffee table art book--this is huge. Check the size and weight before you buy. This is a bulky, quality book with beautiful pages, crisp printing, and the content is beautiful. I haven't seen an homage to McQuarrie's art this tastefully done, or this comprehensive and complete. The only downside, which has me waffling between 4 and 5 stars, is that the black felt-like cover captures dust and skin frustratingly easily and is very difficult to clean. I don't want to have to enjoy this book by wearing gloves...Yet any time I handle it, no matter how well I've washed me hands, there are white little smudges all over the black. It's truly jet black felt, so it shows *any* amount of dust/particulate/skin. I'm hesitant to use a damp rag to wipe off those areas before putting it back on display, but it's practically necessary or else this thing just looks worn and scuffed after a single use.

Book arrived on time and was perfectly packed, which is important given this was not an inexpensive purchase. And it is definitely a book --- actually two volumes --- that you will want to kept in pristine condition. Each of the two volumes of the book is huge and is also heavy... Onto the good stuff: this book is a feast for the eyes for any Star Wars fan, especially any fan of the great Ralph McQuarrie!! The reproductions of his sketches, paintings, etc. are all extremely well done --- photos are clear, with a number being given a full page and other paintings also being blown up to focus on a particular area or aspect of the pre-production painting. And very nice to see some of the sketches and paintings for the first time, especially thinking that I had seen it all... It is going to take a long time to get through the wealth of visual (and written) detail in this book. Very cool to learn that McQuarrie was at Art Center with Syd Mead, and that he found Mead's work intimidating! Criticisms? Not much, only that given the available space on the page, that the text itself could have been a little bit bigger. I just hope that Joe Johnston's equally-inspiring Star Wars design work receives a similar treatment one day!!! This book is highly recommended, especially, if, like me, Ralph McQuarrie's work inspired you a long time ago, far, far away...

Wow! This has to be every sketch or painting he did for Star Wars! These books are gigantic and weigh about 10 pounds each. Great quality and for half off!! It had a warning sticker on the box, "Warning: Box is over 21 pounds!"

A must have for SW enthusiasts

Excelente libro del creador visual del universo de Star Wars.

Por se tratar de um produto importado e ser a minha primeira compra internacional feita na Amazon, eu imaginei que seria um processo muito complicado. Porém a compra foi muito tranquila. O produto chegou muito rápido e extremamente bem embalado. Com lacres de proteção e dentro de várias outras embalagens. O conteúdo é indispensável. Como fã, só tenho a saudar o primoroso trabalho do Ralph McQuarrie que deu um visual inesquecível para essa saga lendária.

What a great book, it arrived in pristine condition and is very intriguing, though can be very dust prone due to the felt.

Consegna puntuale. Regali per il mio nipote. È rimasto felice

Imprescindible!!!