Gary Meyer, an artist who has worked on everything from Star Wars to theme park rides to video games to album covers, has died at the age of 86.
Meyer, who began working as an artist in the 1960s for the US Air Force, is one of the most recognisable and beloved concept artists to have worked in the 20th century. Some of his most notable contributions include helping shape both the opening scenes and trench run finale of the original Star Wars, helping design the creature from The Thing and illustrating a bunch of Hollywood movie posters (Das Boot, Jaws 3, Superman).
He also worked on album covers for groups like The Jacksons, did a bunch of iconic aviation art (for things like books and aerospace companies), helped out on theme park design on rides such as Jurassic Park and Back to the Future and also provided art for video games like Operation Thunderbolt, Superhornet and Air Strike Patrol.
After leaving the entertainment business behind, Meyer later went on to spend decades teaching, something he was still actively doing only a few weeks ago
Our thoughts go out to Meyer’s family and friends.
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