SAMI ZAYN V KEVIN OWENS: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 18DEC22
Two of a kind but one won't survive.
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Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. Reign supreme in your U-N-I-V-E-R-S-E with the sharpness.
WORDS
FIGHT FOR-E-VER! For years I’ve wanted to do a painting celebrating the rivalry between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens and right now felt like the perfect time to make it a reality. These two have been fighting since before they came into WWE, it set off again in a brutal way in NXT and has stayed with them throughout their time in WWE.
I had a completely different plan for the background, but something happened accidentally with my flat filbert brush that inspired me to change my whole approach. A sort of motion blur/ speed line effect happened in the background and I committed to it. After the fun warm/cool color palette on their figures I then used the brush again over them to give the feeling of both their impending impact and motion. It’s unlike anything I’ve done before in a very fun way.
ICYMI, here's last week's Canvas 2 Canvas episode. Tomorrow's will go up on WWE's YouTube channel at 11AM CST!
UPCOMING VIDEOS
Paul Heyman acrylic
Bron Breakker
Veer Mahaan
Card subject to change.
Hundreds of prints and paintings at Schamberger Labs!
Rob and Jason Arnett's novella Rudow Can't Fail!
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Signed prints at WWE Auction.
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Instagram
YouTube
SCHAMBERGER LABS: THE SERIES! SEASON FINALE!
The next Wrestling Landscape Painting will be Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart from WrestleMania XII! It might be a week or two before I start as I need to bank up some paintings for WWE before their holiday break. Feeling like this will be an acrylic painting this time around.
WHAT I LIKED THIS WEEK
I listened to the audiobook of Sea of Rust by C Robert Cargill while working this week and was truly blown away by it. It’s a tale of the times after the robot apocalypse, where the singularity happened and robots and AI utterly wiped out humanity. Except now their problems REALLY start. Autonomous AI’s are turning on each other, cannibalizing parts to survive while being hunted down by the major AI’s. It’s an action-adventure tale that’s also sci-fi at its best: Holding a mirror up to our own current society. Plus it gets into some heavy stuff about just what it is that the planet-level AI’s are up to. A prequel recently came out, Day Zero that I’m starting this coming week.
Sunburn by Andi Watson and Simon Gane is a gorgeous graphic novel about a young British girl who goes on holiday with her neighbors to a Greek island and quickly finds herself in over her head with these people she maybe doesn’t know that well at all. Gane’s art especially knocked my socks off. It’s sort of a mix of Eduardo Risso, Mike Mignola and 60’s American illustration that left me in awe.
Watching the Welcome to Chippendales show on Hulu, I had no idea that there was so much arson and so many murders attached to this club. Anyway, here’s the classic Chris Farley/ Patrick Swayze Chippendales skit from SNL. Still as brilliant as when I saw it live!
Speaking of, this week the Fly on the Wall podcast did an excellent two-part episode celebrating the life of Chris Farley on the 25th anniversary of his passing. It’s an honest, heartbreaking and utterly hilarious series of chats with people from Chris’ life. Not only Saturday Night Live luminaries like Adam Sandler, Mike Meyers, Chris Rock and Conan O’Brien but also members of the Farley family. Worth a listen.
YOU GOOD?
It was a sprint to the finish line sort of week but I feel good about it. I finished up my paintings for WWE through January 1st and then flew to Chicago on Thursday to work SmackDown on Friday before flying back home yesterday.
This was my first time working a show since my big breakthroughs in therapy and it was a very different and very pleasant experience for me. The negative emotions weren’t there and I allowed people to compliment my work and allowed myself to accept those compliments.
Unless you’ve got a similar mindset it’s hard to get across how big this was for me, but yeah, it was big and felt even bigger. I’m taking it as a victory.
I got a lot of great signed prints to go up on WWE Auction in the weeks to come. I also got a holy grail one finally done, that being my Roman Reigns vs Triple H painting from WrestleMania 32. The two biggest names in the industry on one print. I’ll probably hold onto this until Axxess but I’ll let you know for sure as I decide.
Good things on the horizon, my friend!
Love you more,
Rob
EXCLUSIVE PAID SUBSCRIBER CONTENT
Paid subscribers this week will get an exclusive 25% off discount code for prints, upcoming signed print releases at WWE Auction, access to the exclusive chat, and 24 hour advance access for the original Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens painting. WE ARE GO FOR PAYWALL.
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