Featured Artist Ross Reitzammer

Enjoy the sublime portfolio of watercolorist Ross Reitzammer, who expertly captures the resilience and strength of everyday lives. View more of his work on his website.

 

 

I’ve always been drawn to people and faces. Not celebrity faces or fancy staged portraits, but the faces you see every day. The people you see in a restaurant, in a store, sitting on a bench, or walking down a street. Folks we usually don’t think twice about. But I’ve never been able to see people as background. To me, every face carries a story.

 

 

You can see a lot in a person if you slow down long enough to look. Some faces show joy. Some show weariness. Others show strength that didn’t come easily. And sometimes you can tell that someone has lived through something hard and kept going anyway. That’s what I try to paint.

 

 

We live in a time when it’s become easy to judge people quickly. People get sized up by their appearance, their culture, their language, or where they come from. Whole groups of people can be lumped together and talked about as if they’re all the same. And once you start doing that, it gets easier to forget they’re human.

 

 

That’s where I want my work to make a difference.

 

 

When I paint a portrait, I’m not trying to make somebody look perfect. I’m trying to show that they matter. I want the viewer to stop and notice the dignity in a stranger’s face. I want them to see that this person has a life, a history, and a story that’s worth listening to.

 

 

Most of my portraits begin with photography, because it lets me capture people naturally – not stiff, not posed, just real. From there, I move into watercolor, ink, and mixed media. I love watercolor because it has a mind of its own. It flows, fades, and surprises you. And honestly, that feels about right, because people are complicated, too.

 

 

I also like leaving parts of a painting unfinished. I don’t need to spell out every detail. Instead, I want you to see the person without any distractions.

 

 

Mostly, I paint because I want people to see each other differently. Every person is unique. Every person is worthy of compassion, respect, and dignity. And every face you pass has a story worth noticing. I want someone to walk away and notice the person next to them, and maybe think, “I wonder what’s their story?”

 

Ross Reitzammer invites you to follow on Instagram. 

 

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