You don’t have to venture far into the world of sci-fi art to find imagery inspired by the artists that worked on the Star Wars franchise – whether that’s Ralph McQuarrie and his original concept art or Terryl Whitlatch and her creature designs for the prequel trilogy. And, in this very special Star Wars issue of ImagineFX, we feature some of the very best Star Wars art every created.

In this month’s Legends section we talk to Ralph about his work on the first three films, whilst looking at some of his most memorable pieces. We’ve also spoken to some of the concept artists behind the prequel films, including Warren Fu, Iain McCaig, Sang Jun Lee, Alex Jaeger, Aaron McBride and Stephan Martiniére, to get their insight into creating art for the films.

The workshop section opens with Darth Maul designer Iain McCaig taking us through the creation of the tattooed Sith Lord, and then Greg Hildebrandt remembers how exactly he and his brother Tim created this month’s iconic cover art. Then Episode 3 concept artist Feng Zhu explains the benefits of working on multiple images before making a pitch. Terryl Whitlatch takes us through how she created many of the fascinating creatures of the Star Wars universe, and Aaron McBride uses a combination of 2D and 3D to create an Imperial droid.

Once you’ve created your very own Darth Vader with the help of Steve Argyle and his 3D skills, there’s still the jam-packed Q&A section to get through, plus reviews of the month’s best software and art books, and our free DVD with a killer sci-fi 3D model pack, a Charles Bernard video workshop and all the magazine’s workshop files.

Ralph McQuarrie: Reacquaint yourself with the legendary artwork of a legendary artist – from epic environments to film-altering battle scenes.

The Prequels: The films may have been divisive, but we can all agree that the art behind the prequels was second to none.

Aaron McBride: Design a droid fit for the Empire with Aaron’s combination use of 2D and 3D tools.

Iain McCaig: See what it’s like to create a modern day Star Wars icon with Iain’s step-by-step guide through a Darth Maul portrait.

Feng Zhu: Episode 3 artist Feng Zhu displays the benefits of working on several images at once when putting together concept pitches.

Terryl Whitlatch: From Jar Jar Binx to the pod racer creatures, Terryl combines personality and palaeontology to great effect.