CODY RHODES: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 22OCT23

Johnny wants to think of a joke.

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Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. No one needs anyone, they don’t even pretend.

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WORDS  

I view this Cody Rhodes painting as a step forward as an artist. I don’t know if it looks it or not but it was difficult to make on a technical level and I’m proud that I was able to pull it off. The red and blues moving through the darkness of the shadows, speaking to Cody’s moniker as the American Nightmare were done with a lot of planning and a growing confidence with acrylic glazing, the technique I’ve been learning and experimenting with this year.

Tempering that expressive energy with the intricate details was the toughest part, especially getting their colors and shading right. I used to say I’m not a detail guy and I still don’t view myself that way, but challenging myself to get into those uncomfortable areas as an artist has been incredibly rewarding. I feel like challenging myself in that way then also challenges how the audience thinks about my work. We’re on a creative journey together and we’re exploring some wonderful places.

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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  

• Rhea Ripley acrylic

• Asuka

• Tiffany Stratton

Card subject to change.

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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

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WHAT I LIKED THIS WEEK

I didn’t have any expectations going into reading Parasocial by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson other than Henderson’s outstanding art and was really impressed. I didn’t even know what it was about, again just getting it as a fan of her art, so I went on a hell of a ride here. It’s a sort of reimagining of Stephen King’s misery based around a nerdlebrity and a fan at a comicon who takes her fandom too far. ‘Fan’ is short for ‘Fanatic’ after all.

Cereal by Mark Russell and Peter Snejbjerg is a funny gag that becomes a really engrossing story unto itself. In this book, all of the cereal mascots are real and are caught up in a war. Essentially, General Mills Post is invading the kingdom of Count Chocula to gain the magical power of the Leprechaun king’s magic charm crown. The General uses the likes of his super soldiers Franken Berry and Fruit Brute, his naval genius Cap’n Crunch and we get occasional check-in’s with the royal grave digger frog who only says, “Diggum.” The names are changed but the satire is all there. It’s all of these cartoon mascots caught up in a Game of Thrones-esque bloody drama and it’s equally hilarious and heartbreaking.

I’m a long time fan of Snejbjerg’s art and he somehow nails the balance of the tone the story has, letting things be outrageous in both their humor and their horror.

Star Trek: IDW Library Collection volume 2 collects the first two Next Generation series that IDW published. I’ll be honest, it’s a mixed bag of quality but I personally view Star Trek to be like pizza or a donut: At worst it’s still Star Trek. And this is far from the worst, it’s solid and often thrilling with some very stylized art. I never read these when they came out so it’s cool to experience them fresh now

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Job perk.

YOU GOOD?  

I’ve written and rewritten this a few times and instead of dragging down the mood, I’ll just say that I ran into some tough things personally and professionally this past week and the things I’ve learned in therapy have helped me out a lot.

Here’s to this week going a lot better than the last one.

Love you more,
Rob

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EXCLUSIVE PAID SUBSCRIBER CONTENT

Paid subscribers this week will get an exclusive 25% off discount code for prints! Plus, 24 hour early access to the original CODY RHODES painting!