Star Wars: The Art of Ralph McQuarrie $50

Dreams and Visions Press is pleased to announce their latest release, a limited edition produced exclusively for Star Wars Celebration Japan.

Star Wars: The Art of Ralph McQuarrie is a 168 page, full color oversize paperback created to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars in Japan. Authors Stan Stice and John David Scoleri have compiled a book that contains nearly all of Ralph's Star Wars art from their critically acclaimed The Art of Ralph McQuarrie, along with dozens of newly discovered, never before published production pieces from Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

The Art of Ralph McQuarrie made it's debut at Star Wars Celebration IV in Los Angeles in May 2007. "We were thrilled at the reception the book received. While we were happy to finally make so much of Ralph's artwork available to his fans, certain limitations resulted in several of Ralph's most famous and recognizable Star Wars paintings not making the final cut," Scoleri said. A veteran of all 5 previous Star Wars Celebrations, Stice noted, "We saw the opportunity to do something special for Ralph's Japanese fans while celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Wars in Japan. By designing a book that focused exclusively on Ralph's Star Wars art, we were able to not only carry over the majority of the Star Wars art from the original volume, but add in many of the pieces we didn't originally have the space for."

The Japanese book also provided an avenue for additional recently uncovered Star Wars artwork. "Ralph's furnace went out and needed to be replaced," said Stice. "In the process of clearing out the space for the workmen to replace it, I came across a folder containing pages and pages of never before seen drawings from the making of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Our book had only been out a few months, and here we stumbled across a treasure chest of illustrations that had been forgotten for nearly 30 years."

The inclusion of the new and previously omitted artwork expanded the book by almost 30 pages, making this a must have for all fans of Ralph McQuarrie and the art of Star Wars. The text is entirely in Japanese, allowing Ralph's fans in Japan to read his personal commentary on his amazing body of Star Wars artwork for the first time. This Star Wars Celebration Japan store exclusive is limited to 1978 copies and has a retail price of $50 US.

Ralph McQuarrie Tribute Poster $25

The Star Wars Ralph McQuarrie Tribute Poster, created to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars in Japan.

In 1976, visionary artist Ralph McQuarrie created a concept for a Star Wars one-sheet poster that would inspire artists around the globe; Darth Vader standing before the Death Star, towering over our young heroes.

Ralph retired in the late 90s, never having completed a painting of his original poster concept. This piece of Star Wars history has been missing until now.

As a tribute to McQuarrie, noted artist and sculptor Lawrence Noble picked up a paintbrush for the first time in years to complete a painting based on Ralph's original concept art.

"We wanted to do this in the style of a poster from 1977. It was a wonderful project to work on - I enjoyed picking up a paint brush after so long. The poster was even produced in the same size (27" x 41") as the original Star Wars 1977 Theatrical U.S. one-sheet," notes Noble.

Lawrence Noble first met Ralph McQuarrie at a Northern California art show (Space: Fantasy & Reality) organized by noted art collector William Plumb. Both artists worked on exclusive show posters for the event. Noble will be attending Star Wars Celebration Japan, and as with Star Wars Celebration IV and Celebration Europe, he will be sculpting a Star Wars character bust throughout the weekend at the show - this time of Luke Skywalker.

The Art of Ralph McQuarrie is responsible for the official website of noted illustrator Ralph McQuarrie, and handles licensing of all Ralph McQuarrie properties.

Lawrence Noble is the designer of many motion picture advertising campaigns including Time After Time; Flash Gordon; Sharky's Machine; The Empire Strikes Back (10th Anniversary Poster) and more recently, he produced sculptures for Searching for Bobby Fischer and The Rock. Samples of his work can be seen on his official website.

Star Wars is ™ and © Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. Used Under Authorization.

Ralph McQuarrie Tribute Poster signed by Lawrence Noble $55

This edition of the poster is printed on a heavier paper stock, limited to 300 and signed by Lawrence Noble. These were not available in Japan.