Via Spoon & Tamago, I learned about the passing of Japanese Illustrator Noriyoshi Ohrai just a few days ago at age 79.

The iconic artist was an art student dropout who began his career in 1962 illustrating book covers and newspaper advertisements. His big break came when he was 45 years old. An illustration he did of the movie Star Wars for an obscure Japanese science fiction magazine made its way to the hands of George Lucas, who liked it so much he commissioned Ohrai to create the universal poster for the movie’s sequel: The Empire Strikes Back.

Amazing work. More at spoon-tamago.com.