Another person whom the public probably knows nothing about, but is familiar with his work the world over, has passed. 

Ralph McQuarrie was originally a painter for Boeing aircrafts before he was recruited to do conceptual paintings for STAR WARS after George Lucas had seen some pictures of his work. He commissioned Ralph to do paintings to help visualize his ideas to help sell his script; giving vague, short, and bizarre synopses a grounded, detailed, authentic visual representation on paper.

Since that, he went on to do further conceptual/matte paintings and illustrations for such shows as the original Battlestar Galactica, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Jurassic Park.

Him being one of my artistic influences, I am saddened deeply to hear of his passing but he left behind a great amount of work and like a many great artists: as long as there is a way to see his work and people to admire them, then he will always be around. 

Here are a few of his most notable (and some obscure) paintings from his most notable project below:

(This was the image that got the reluctant Anthony Daniels to play the part of 3PO)

(This is a painting of early concepts for the Millennium Falcon)

R.I.P. R.M.Q.

You can visit his website here, pay your respects at his Facebook page, or you can write directly to tribute@ralphmcquarrie.com.