Gallery: Check Out an Incredible Tome of Ralph McQuarrie's Star Wars Art
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The helmet sketch on the right has been printed frequently in the past, but only from a photographic transparency, which caused the helmet and chest to appear softer than the faceplate and the helmet to look distorted. It is accurately reproduced here for the first time.
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A matte painting of Tatooine, circa April 1976. This painting was seen at least twice in the film, including the opening shot.
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The cover for *Splinter of the Mind's Eye*, late 1977. This was the first Star Wars novel published after *A New Hope* was released, making it one of the first pieces of the Expanded Universe.
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Concept sketches for Cloud City flying creatures and a cloud car vehicle. The car incorporated here is a Joe Johnston design. McQuarrie frequently incorporated the most up-to-date designs in his work, including those of his colleagues. McQuarrie later did a finished illustration incorporating the flying beasts and cloud vehicles.
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Concept sketches of an ice planet mobile turret, circa February 1979.
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Matte painting of the *Millennium Falcon* on the Cloud City landing pad at dusk. McQuarrie felt it necessary to paint over the *Falcon* set piece as the lighting on the live-action plate did not match for dusk.
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A photo of McQuarrie working on the matte painting.
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Preliminary illustration of bounty hunters. McQuarrie used this illustration to test two different types of varnish, one of which he later applied to the final illustration.
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This illustration was created as a cover for a children's book, but was deemed too scary upon completion and was not used. It was later revived as cover art for *The Jedi Master's Quizbook*, published in November 1982, and on a poster for *The Empire Strikes Back Radio Drama*, circa early 1983. Four-inch by five-inch decals of the artwork were also offered as renewal incentives for the Official Star Wars Fan Club in early 1982.
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Preliminary cover illustration for *The Empire Strikes Back* novelization. The preliminary illustration was utilized on a mock-up of the cover sent to retailers to promote the upcoming book. It interestingly does not incorporate the final design of the AT-AT Walker.
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The first version of an illustration called "The Emperor's Powers." While McQuarrie had reference photographs from the film available while working on his portfolio illustrations, he sometimes blended in his own ideas, which explains this evil face for the Emperor. He was subsequently asked to change the piece to match the film more closely.
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In the second version of "The Emperor's Powers" the Emperor's face more closely resembles how the character appears in the final film.
