Walter Rane
Artist Walter Rane was born in 1949 in Chula Vista, California. He studied fine art at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. His studies included classes on anatomy and classical drawing, something many schools during the early 1970s weren't teaching. "Even though Art Center was (and still is) a commercial art school, they had a faculty that taught the discipline of drawing like the old masters," says Rane.
The Art Center curriculum prepared Walter Rane well for his successful career as a commercial illustrator. As a result, his paintings demonstrate a high degree of anatomical accuracy and color mastery. Some of his clients included: Reader's Digest, Time Life, Random House, National Geographic, Eddie Bauer, the Rockefeller Group, the Grummond Corporation, and more. AFter more than twenty years in commercial illustrating, Rane moved towards paintings of a religious nature.
"Instead of wanting to be like other illustrators, I've always wanted to paint like Rubens, Rembrandt and Michelangelo," says Rane. "Not that I could ever approach them, but that's what my standard is and that's what I look at all the time." Rane longed to paint the figurative sacred subject matter the masters painted, so on his own, he began producing paintings based on scriptural passages.
Shortly after moving his family to Oregon in order to focus on portraiture, landscapes and scriptural studies, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints commissioned Rane to do a mural for the Winter Quarters visitors' center. The project appealed to his interest in religious art, and he has continued to work on Biblical paintings as well as Book of Mormon paintings.
Walter Rane's paintings each demonstrates his mastery of dynamic composition, color and anatomically correct figures and manipulated surfaces. Each of his paintings tells a story with passion and vibrancy. Rane's versions of scriptural stories inspire viewers and elicit comparisons with the masters.
By the Hand of Mormon - Paintings from the Book of Mormon
"I challenge the homes of Israel to display on their walls great quotations and scenes from the Book of Mormon.... I have a vision of artists putting into ... paintings great themes and great characters from the Book of Mormon." — President Ezra Taft Benson
By the Hand of Mormon is a book collection including seventeen Book of Mormon paintings by Walter Rane. From Enos's impassioned prayer to Alma's exquisite joy at his son's conversion to the Savior's tender expression as he bids the Nephites to examine the scars on his hands and feet, Walter Rane's landmark collection of the Book of Mormon paintings brings to life the stories and characters of that sacred book.
Every painting the By the Hand of Mormon evokes a feeling of grandeur and respect for the great faith and devotion of those men and women whose stories make up the Book of Mormon. Walter Rane's Book of Mormon collection is destined to become renowned through the LDS Church and to be remembered in the hearts and minds of viewers for years to come.
To create this collection, Walter carefully researched what is known about the early inhabitants of the Americas and even took a ten-day trip to Central America with David Pliler to help compile sketches and background material for the completion of his work. While it was his intent to be consistent with what scholars know about the locations and lifestyles of the Book of Mormon, he recognizes that there is still much that remains unknown.
Read the Meridian Magazine interview with Walter Rane.
