Ralph McQuarrie was a legend in the movie industry, revered by fellow concept artists and Star Wars fans alike.
For those who don’t know who he was, he’s the person  mainly responsible for the look of the Star Wars movies (the real Star Wars, not the last three shitty ones. Jar-Jar is not his fault).
He’s the one who designed Darth Vader, X-Wings and the other space ships, Jabba, the rebels’ outfits, Tatooine, the Rancor, I mean, everything.
He also came up with the idea of Darth Vader breathing through his famous device.

He’s responsible for the gritty “used future” look of the Star Wars universe, and his influence on the following generations is so huge that Science Fiction can’t prescind from his work.
His concepts were always so spot-on that Spielberg said “when words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph’s fabulous illustrations and say, ‘do it like this’.
As a matter of fact, it’s not difficult to tell how closely his drawings below were portrayed in some of the most iconic SW scenes.

Ralph passed away early this year. He had been retired for a while, so obviously his work is now being brought to new light by saddened fans and admirers, out of homage and respect.
I stumbled upon this thread on reddit that gathers most of his famous paintings.
I had some others on my Hard Drive, or in my favs folder.
Some others can be found on this website.

I’m pasting some of them here, whereas here and here you could find books with his complete collection.
Which, since I’m penniless as usual, are now saved in my wish list for happier times.

by Paolo Puggioni