I absolutely love Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art from Star Wars and thanks to redditor Join_You_In_The_Sun I am in heaven looking at 100 images of Ralph McQuarrie’s art from the original trilogy.
Below are some of my favorites. I just can’t get enough of his vision of the Star Wars universe. Almost every single painting is epic and they really visually steered Star Wars into what it became on screen. Love these!
via reddit
I really love stuff like this AT-AT cross-section infographic. I could read stuff like this for hours. I think it’s from one of the Star Wars cross-section books, but I’m not sure which one.
The AT-AT armored transports were first seen in The Empire Strikes Back and it really illustrated to viewers what a massive force the Empire was, that it could move machines of this scale and use them in combat. They may be giant and fully armored, but everything has a weakness, as Luke soon found out. This infographic tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the AT-AT transports.
Behance user Malgorzata Skowronska knows a good thing when she sees it. If Bacta (the mysterious and powerful healing agent used in the rejuvenation tanks in Star Wars) can heal you while submerged in a Bacta Tank, the stuff must be pretty good to drink. Right? So Bacta brand wine was created.
All I can say is, drinking it would certainly be a step up from having to soak in it for several hours.
I’m a sucker for vintage Sci-Fi novel cover art. They just don’t paint them like these anymore. You might remember Brian Daley’s trilogy of Han Solo novels in 1979-80. Well, this trilogy came next in 1981, featuring Lando Calrissian. The titles are almost as awesome as the art by Williams Schmidt.
The books were Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon and Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka. The action all takes place long before the events of the original Star Wars films. I just love that artwork. Just the right amount of retro and it convinces you right away that Lando would have made a great leading man in his own movies. I see him as a space-faring James Bond.
I love that you can still buy these books today in a 3 for 1 deal on Amazon. But the new cover has no soul.
via Space1970
If you are looking for some Star Wars art with serious attitude and lots of humor, get thee to the PickledCircus Etsy store right this second. Matthew Roby’s Star Warped series is all kinds of awesome.
Whether it is Leia as the lollipop sucking Alderaan Avenger, or Boba Fett with a “Strawberry Solo” frozen popsicle, or any of his other humorous pieces, these art prints will make you smile and laugh. How about Jabba the Hutt as the “Blobfather” or Admiral Ackbar falling for the somewhat obvious trap of a mini Death Star with dynamite attached? I love these and I hope he keeps making more.
Check out this photo from the set of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. It is part of a deleted scene from the film. As you can see, those rebels are having a tough time dealing with a Wampa attack. This scene would have been great on screen.
Originally the Wampas were to play a slightly larger part in the movie as you can see in the scene included below, which is another deleted scene, where C-3PO tears off a warning sign on a door with Wampas inside, to try to trick the pursuing troops. This one may have been a bit too comical for the final cut, but I would love to see the scene where the rebels face some Wampas.
via Twitter
Joe Johnston recently revealed this behind-the-scenes video detailing the making of one of the shots from Empire Strikes Back featuring the AT-ATs. I have nothing but respect for these old school stop motion guys. It is slow work and about as low-tech as it gets, but it can produce amazing shots that rival today’s special effects.
Johnston:
Original Trilogy fans…here’s the digitized super 8mm clip of Phil Tippett, Jon Berg and Doug Bestwick stop-motion animating a snow walker shot from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. As I watch this for the first time in thirty-five years I am truly amazed at the amount of work that went into the creation of just one shot in this iconic sequence. I love stop motion with all it’s archaic flaws and charm. This is a great example of what will hopefully not become a lost art form.
I remember changing the frame rate a couple of times before switching to live action. In the later settings it’s easier to see the walkers’ progress. The VistaVision camera recording the shot is the large black shape at bottom center, which gives you a hint as to which shot in the sequence the guys are animating. Watch the cut sequence…it’s pretty obvious which shot this is. The video camera on the stand to the left of it is for the animators’ reference monitor.
I had forgotten that there’s a short snippet of Mike Pangrazio painting one of his incredible panoramic landscapes that formed the backgrounds for the majority of the stop-motion shots. There’s even a brief shot of a very focused Nilo Rodis at the end. This was a blast from the past for me and I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for watching!
via io9
