ASUKA: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 19NOV23
Forver enthralling, beyond reach, hope's distant glory.
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Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. Be proud of mov
WORDS
Historically, I tend to do my best work when I’m making a new Asuka painting. I feel like that’s still true. She’s definitely a favorite subject to paint, because her look is already so fascinating I’m freed up to push it (and myself as an artist) even further.
I painted the background with watercolor and ink, getting a slightly more muted look and then painted Asuka herself with acrylic paint. That gets a bit bolder color-wise and helps with the illusion of depth. I spent a week just on the background and another week on her, taking my time to get each little detail right. I went way outside of my comfort zone and couldn’t be happier with the results.
BLACK FRIDAY PLANS
At Schamberger Labs, we’re going to have daily discount codes Friday through Monday. I’ll send an email on Thursday with all of that information. No bonus items or doorbuster-type specials this year because, bluntly, with everything going on I just don’t have time. You understand. Everything’s special, right?
Theoretically, at WWE Shop we’re going to have daily signed prints launching, each going up at 12PM CST. Theoretically. It’s what I’m told, but I’m not directly in charge of when they go live. But it SHOULD happen.
What kind of signed prints? How about that Roman Reigns Wrestling Landscape signed by the Tribal Chief himself along with the Uso’s and Paul Heyman. That’d be cool, right? Maybe the above American Nightmare Cody Rhodes. Whose game is it? Maybe a first-ever signed LA Knight print! YEAH. Oh, and a certain print you can’t see.
Full details of signed prints are after the pay break at the end of this email for paid tier members. Want to make sure you get all of the information? Could be time to upgrade your subscription.
ICYMI, here's the latest Canvas 2 Canvas episode. Tomorrow’s episode will go up on WWE's YouTube channel at 12PM CST!
UPCOMING PAINTINGS
Tiffany Stratton
Roman Reigns
Iyo Sky
Kairi Sane
Card subject to change.
EMOTION SERIES
“Loving”
Acrylic on 20” x 30” board
The latest painting in this series that explores how I experience emotions as a person with Reactive Attachment Disorder and PTSD. Each one has a profound meaning to me, but I’m leaving the interpretations up to the viewer to find what it means to each person. I will say that I wept while penciling this out.
This is proving to be the hardest, most challenging, and most rewarding work of my life. Thank you for letting me share it with you.
Hundreds of prints and paintings at Schamberger Labs!
Rob and Jason Arnett's novella Rudow Can't Fail!
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Prints and Signed Prints at WWE Shop
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Instagram
Threads
YouTube
WHAT I LIKED THIS WEEK
Katy and I went to see Priscilla last Sunday, not knowing too much about it and honestly not knowing too much about her time married to Elvis Presley. It’s fantastic and a very challenging movie. This is very much about Priscilla’s experience and is about her, not about Elvis and it’s best to keep that in mind when watching. Writer/Director Sophia Coppola made an interesting choice in not using any of Elvis’ music to really drive that home. This is the story about a (very) young girl who gets swept up in a relationship to one of the most famous people alive at the time, rarely having her own life being about herself.
I watched The Wheel of Time Season One over the course of the past week and got swept right up in its world and its conflicts. I’d watched the first episode back when it originally came out and didn’t particularly enjoy it so didn’t watch more. I gave it a second chance and I have no idea why I didn’t like it before! I’m admittedly not a fantasy fan, it’s overall not my favorite genre, but I liked the humanity of this show’s characters quite a lot. It’s got a lot of similar aspects to Lord of the Rings, but again it has a humanity to it that I really identified with. Like, they’re on this big good vs evil quest thingie, but the show’s really about how it’s affecting each of them, testing each as individuals and their relationships to each other. Plus there’s swords and pig-faced guys.
I’m about halfway into season two, which is so far a huge step forward in quality thanks to the characterizations established in season one. Good stuff.
If you’re a fellow old school country fan, this episode of The Midnight Special is an absolute treasure trove. Loretta Lynn! Marty Robbins! Charlie Rich! Conway Twitty! Don Gibson! George Jones! Tammy Wynette! Johnny Paycheck! Johnny Rodriguez! Earl Scruggs! Tanya Tucker! Tom T Hall! I’ve loved this Midnight Special channel on YouTube since it launched, where they’ve put out a full episode every week as well as individual performances.
I was in the zone on this one.
YOU GOOD?
My assistant David was out of the office Tuesday through Thursday so I had to step back in to fulfill orders on those days. And boy, I really appreciate how good of a job David does! That said, we’ve developed a solid system at the Schamberger Labs Art Fulfillment Center where we can now do in a couple hours what used to take a couple days. It’s something people on the outside will never know about, but I’m dang proud of it.
Tuesday night I went to the monthly figure drawing session at Art School KC, this time with our model Nicole (who I did the ‘Excited’ painting with a few months ago) and had one of my better outings. The above watercolor piece I’m especially happy with, but honestly all of them turned out solid. Instead of experimenting with every piece like I normally do, I kinda just played to my strengths instead.
Otherwise I finished up the ‘Loving’ painting and started work on my next Roman Reigns piece. Friday when David was back we did an inventory count, too, to prepare for the integration of Schamberger Labs into our backend system so that our inventory counts are shared between Labs and WWE Shop. Exciting! Counting and spreadsheets! That said, doing the count I see that my new Rhea Ripley and LA Knight prints are doing VERY well.
It was a nice uneventful week where everything seemed to go smoothly, which after how the majority of this year has gone that’s a big win.
BUT!
Since we’re heading into Thanksgiving week, I feel the need to remind you of three things:
STUFFING WAFFLES! Put your uncooked stuffing/dressing mix into a waffle iron and cook it that way. Everything’s the crispy corner part! Then stack your good stuff on top, pour some gravy over it and it’s the best thing.
Velveeta Green Bean Casserole! Now, my mom’s green bean casserole is my forever favorite but because of that we don’t tend to have much in the way of leftovers. So, a friend of Katy’s introduced us a few years ago to the joy that is VELVEETA green bean casserole and it’s now what we have for leftovers. Yummy stuff.
Green Bean Casserole Quiche! Speaking of the need for green bean casserole leftovers, this is another thing we came across a few years back that’s now a highlight. Mix up the casserole with three eggs, pour it in a pie crust and bake that sum’bitch up. Goes perfect with a stuffing waffle!
I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and Survivor Series week, and I’m excited to help David fulfill all of the Black Friday orders we’re going to get.
Love you more,
Rob
EXCLUSIVE PAID SUBSCRIBER CONTENT
Paid subscribers this week will get an exclusive 25% off discount code for prints! You’ll also know about the signed prints coming soon to WWE Shop! Lots of them. Plus, 24 hour early access to the original ASUKA painting! Exclamation points!
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