SHOP TALK : Rob Schamberger Newsletter 21JUL24

Sometimes beginnings can come from an end.

---

Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. Lots of other stuff, this week. You and me, we don’t needs words to say anything. They just get in the way.

---

WORDS  

Above is a 9x12 watercolor I made of ‘The Equestrian Monument of Cosimo I,’ a 1594 bronze statue by Giambologna displayed in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. I was really struck by the power of this as we were walking by and took a few photos as reference to revisit later in the studio. I fell in love with all of the bronze statues in the Piazza and how they’ve oxidized over the centuries and it was a fun challenge to examine those colors and textures in the painting.

When I started working on it I was reminded of a quote from legendary comic book writer/ artist Jim Starlin, who when asked why most of his stories are set in outer space said, “There’s no horses in space.”

---

This is my final painting revisiting my time learning from Olga Litvenenko. I did this one last because I was overall happy with the study I did there. But with how happy I was with the results I got from doing finished paintings of each of the other studies, I knew this one would excel. I think I was right.

For reference, here’s the original sketch and study I did from our model Fede:

When Olga came by to look at the sketch, she asked with her thick Russian accent, “This is what you’re going to do? Like this? With these colors?”

“Uhm…yeah. Yeah, I think so.”

She smiled and gave me a thumbs up. “Okay. Good luck!”

I opted to soften the edges and details of Fede’s torso so that the head, shoulder and the pattern of the fabric would get more of the focus. I think it draws the eye through the composition in a more impactful way. I for sure see the value of doing not just the sketch but also the study as I was able to examine the things that went right and wrong in the study to better inform this painting.

I was challenged well beyond my comfort zone from that time in Italy with Olga but I think what I learned will inform my work for decades to come.

Here’s the other three paintings that came from my time at the retreat:

Gosh. What an experience. Thanks for letting me share it with you.

---

Here’s a preview of Thursday’s new Adam Copeland painting. My first AEW Wrestling Landscape!

---

UPCOMING AEW/PWT PAINTINGS  

• Adam Copeland

• Malakai Black

• Britt Baker, DMD

• Willow Nightingale

Card subject to change.

---

Rob’s Art on ShopAEW
###
Rob and Jason Arnett's novella Rudow Can't Fail!
###
Rob’s prints and shirts at Pro Wrestling Tees
###
Instagram
Threads
Cara
YouTube

---

EMOTION SERIES

“Sad”

Acrylic on 20” x 30” illustration board

Easily one of the most difficult paintings I’ve ever made, both technically and emotionally. The intent with each of the pieces in this series has been to show how I experience different emotions and this one, unfortunately, is really accurate.

One of the benefits of doing these for me has been to use each as a visualization of what I’m experiencing when certain emotions overtake me, or to conceptualize what I’m experiencing in the moment. My therapist was really intrigued when I told her that. I don’t think either of us expected everything that this process has opened up and it’s seriously helping our work together.

---

Okay. Onto some less challenging stuff.

---

WHAT I LIKED THIS WEEK

The first half of Cobra Kai season six came out this week, as the series begins to wrap up. Over the past couple weeks I rewatched the entire show to prepare and it’s overall been a fun examination of conflict and resolution. The middle seasons were about a charismatic leader in Sensei Kreese infecting a community with a divisive ideology and those who stood against that, seeing the long term damage it would do. Sound familiar? I’m glad that this final season seems to be going back to the roots of the first season, where it’s about the characters and their interpersonal conflicts. While they did the sociopolitical commentary very well, and the nostalgic callbacks to the films were also done for the most part in an even-handed way (not always!), this show is at its best for me when it focuses on the kids and the dynamic between Johnny and Daniel.

The Boys season four finale has no subtlety but we live in very matter-of-fact times. I just wish it was a little more fictional and a little less documentarian.

Sturgill Simpson put out a new album under the pseudonym Johnny Blue Skies called Passage Du Desir and it’s a beautiful thing. It’s a mix of his sound with some 70’s James Taylor and some Nashville-inspired production. Probably my favorite album of his since A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. I enjoy how much he changes up his sound from album to album while still remaining distinctly his own.

Here’s my favorite song so far from the album, If the Sun Never Rises Again:

It’s firmly in that 70’s James Taylor pocket. I think what I enjoy so much about this album is how hand-made it sounds. In an age where everything is synthetic, there’s something refreshing about experiencing some art made by a human’s hands. I might be biased about that, of course.

---

They gave us all of their human monies.

YOU GOOD?

Last Wednesday’s signed Danhausen print is my single-day bestselling print OF ALL TIME. Not just in my time with AEW, it’s the best I’ve EVER had. So, uh…wow. Thank you.

Circumstances were such that I needed to stop working with my prior client, but there was still a lot of doubt attached to the decision. But the numbers don’t lie and I can clearly see that we’re in the process of building something beautiful together.

When the announcement went out that I was working with AEW, a friend texted me to congratulate me and say how happy he was that I was being presented the same way as one of the wrestlers. He said he saw me at that level and was happy that others were, too.

Compliments are VERY hard for me to receive for a lot of reasons (See: The Emotion Series paintings), but I’ve been learning to not invalidate people when they give them to me. Maybe with time I’ll be able to actually internalize them. Successes like this week’s go a long way towards that.

Love you more,
Rob

---