Ok, so he wasn't exactly making fan art, but Ralph McQuarrie was an inspiration to us all. He took a young director's crazy dream, and painted it to life. He created the look of Star Wars, and now the galaxy far, far away(as well as this one) has grown a little darker without his paints to give it light. Here's to you Master McQuarrie. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be drawing something boring, like a plant on a table, or something.
It is a sad loss. His imagination has touched and inspired so many people and across a few generations. I have The Illustrated Star Wars Universe book and I remember exploring his paintings and imagining being transported to locations like Coruscant/Imperial Centre and Alderaan. Ralph McQuarrie's influences are still with us. His designs are continued to be referenced and felt in Star Wars with The Clone Wars series and we might get to see more with future productions. There are great people like Paul Bateman that preserves his works for all to enjoy. His legacy will continue to live on.
I have a challenge for my fellow fan artists... Since we all owe so much to Mr. McQuarrie, I propose we all draw something to honor him. Whether it's a drawing of him, or taking his production paintings and adding your own twist to it, or using his character designs in your art...whatever you want. If you choose to accept this challenge, please post your art here on this thread. There's no deadline, I know we're all busy. I just figured it'd be a nice way to pay tribute to the man, in the best way we know how, using the medium he's best known for.
I'm glad there is this tribute thread, sad to need one. I bought each book of his drawings upon release; his take on the universe that Lucas created made the entire story glow. Goodbye, Ralph.
Ralph was a great artist, with a distinctive style that I liked a lot. May the Force be with you, Ralph. As for the challenge, it sounds like a nice idea. Thankfully, there's no deadline, as I can't commit to anything right now. Still busy wrangling Darth Real Life.