JAY WHITE: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 26DEC24
If it has a switchblade knife, salute it.
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Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. Next thing I knew he had a switchblade knife. Lord, I didn't know that Fraulein was his wife.
WORDS
Jay White is a wrestler people have been asking me to paint for years and it’s cool to finally make one. It may appear like a fairly straightforward painting but when I look at it I see every painting I’ve ever made and what I learned from making them and how all of that informed how I did this piece. What went right, what went wrong, what happened accidentally that I could replicate, all of that. From the color palette, to how I created the texture of the background and how I created the fog effect in the foreground, all of it is on display here.
ARTIST OF CHAMPIONS
Ground Chuck Burger
UPCOMING AEW/PWT PRINTS
Ricochet - SIGNED
Private Party - SIGNED
Adam Cole
The Outrunners
Card subject to change.
Rob’s Art on ShopAEW
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Rob and Jason Arnett's novella Rudow Can't Fail!
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Rob’s prints and shirts at Pro Wrestling Tees
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Instagram
Threads
Bluesky
Cara
YouTube
WHAT I LIKED THIS YEAR IN ART BOOKS
(Several of these didn’t necessarily come out in 2024, but this was when I got them. Calm down.) I didn’t feel like I got that many art books this year but it looks like I actually did, which is a pleasant surprise.
Comics-wise, like everyone I fell in love with the David Mazzucchelli Batman: Year One Artist’s Edition, showing off his beautiful original art for this classic story. I also picked up the Bill Sienkiewicz Artisan Edition which is a total treasure trove. I got the tremendous Frank Frazetta comics covers collection, a sister book to the collection of his novel covers. The DC Art of Lee Bermejo and The Marvel Art of David Mack are lush collections of these two modern maestros. Outside of the Year One book, the comics-related tome I was most excited about was the DC Comics Style Guide from 1983 full of iconic Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez art that defined my young childhood and is what those characters look like when I close my eyes and think of them.
A couple notable art books from contemporary artists that have stuck with me are Soey Milk’s Inflorescence and Neon Rising by Josan Gonzalez aka Deathburger. Milk is one of my very favorite artists working today and this collection of her paintings over the past few years is a wonder to behold. Deathburger exists in that 80’s neon cyberpunk Heavy Metal pocket that I can’t get enough of. Not so much a contemporary artist as he lived centuries ago, but yesterday I got a copy of Tachen’s complete collection of Caravaggio’s works so that I can study them more in depth. We have one of his paintings of St John the Baptist here in Kansas City at the Nelson-Atkins Museum and I had the pleasure of seeing more of his works at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence earlier this year.
Speaking of Uffizi, we picked up the Uffizi Official Guide while there and it’s been next to my drawing table and open pretty much nonstop since. Hugely influential on my Human Needs Series I’m working on. Another museum book I picked up was Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence, the companion book to the touring exhibit currently at the Nelson-Atkins which not only goes in depth on Hokusai, but also on those who influenced him, his contemporaries, his students, and those influenced by his works.
Growing up we didn’t have any spare money. A single mom household where she had to pick which bill(s) wasn’t getting paid that month type of situation. But Mom had a rule that’s stuck with me that no matter what if I asked for a book she’d get me one. It made them that much more special. She also had office supplies from work ‘accidentally fall into her purse’ that I could turn into art supplies. Pencils, steno pads, Sharpies, copy paper, and the like.
As an adult that gradually morphed into art books for myself. Over the last 25 years I can pretty much count on one hand the number of times I regretted buying one. Probably only two or three! Growing up we didn’t have much and my imagination along with a love for looking at and making art were my ways to give myself more. It’s easy to see why they still mean so much to me.
Love you more,
Rob