SHOP TALK: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 22JUN25
Every set of curtains opens to the open road.
Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. Someone that's something like me.
WORDS
Black Narcissus study
Watercolor on 12” x 9” watercolor paper
Black Narcissus is one of the most beautiful movies ever made and while waiting to start on my next batch of AEW stuff I worked this up to keep my skills sharp. I’d picked up a few new tubes of paint and wanted to play around with them, so this was the perfect opportunity. Especially happy with the glow I got on her face.
NOSTOS/ALGOS Action Study
Ink on 14” x 17” bristol, colored digitally
This was a goddam beast to make. I’ve been in a depression hole for the past couple weeks (I’m working on it in therapy, sometimes these things take a bit to sort out) and wanted to make a complicated piece that I could fixate on so that I’m not fixating on that other stuff.
I challenged myself with a dense action scene where Nostalya and the Algonauts are fighting a bunch of skeletons and axe-murderer robots, but actually make it look like a FIGHT. Everyone’s engaged with a foe, stumbling over each other yet still keeping Nostalya as the focal point of the composition.
Not easy!
To further challenge myself I decided to use this as an opportunity to teach myself finally to use a dip pen, which I used for the vast majority of this outside of spotting the black areas. Still got a ways to go on that but I see light at the end of the tunnel.
Then it was a matter of slowly picking away at coloring it digitally. Another tool I’m not very confident with yet but getting there. I’m trying to utilize a lot of my painterly mindset to how I approach this but still being true to the comic book look I’m after. Which is funny, because my comic book roots are there throughout my approach to how I paint.
Anyway. I had fun making this and hope you have fun looking at it.
UPCOMING AEW/PWT PAINTINGS
Konosuke Takeshita
Kenny Omega
Skye Blue
Kyle Fletcher
The Young Bucks
Card subject to change.
Trans rights are human rights.
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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Bluesky
Cara
YouTube
WHAT I LIKED THIS WEEK
A lot, apparently!
I finished reading the Suicide Squad Omnibus volume one by John Ostrander, Luke McDonnell and friends and apparently this beloved critically-acclaimed and highly-influential comic is very good. It’s something I never read (the name kept me away for personal reasons) but felt like now was a good time. I’ve always been a fan of Ostrander’s writing, primarily his Spectre and Star Wars stuff, and knew that this was regarded as his best work and goddam if that ain’t right. Luke McDonnell draws the hell out of this in a very understated manner focused on storytelling instead of splash and yo, it WORKS. It does get bogged down with some crossover-itis for a bit there but I think that stops with the second omnibus.
Caravaggio volume 2 by Milo Manara is a delight to read. Gorgeously painted by Manara, it finishes off the biography of master artist Caravaggio. Knights, vengeful Popes, hiding out in a traveling circus, getting stabbed in the mouth, this book’s got it all.
The Late Show by Michael Connelly, the thirtieth of the Bosch Universe books does something remarkable. It somehow ditches all of the things I didn’t care for with Connelly’s prior books, a lot of philosophies, styles and so on, and moves into a whole new area. That’s wild, right? Connelly for 29 other books in this world over several decades and comes in with a vibrantly fresh new perspective. This was his first book post-2016, which I think fed a lot into it. The cops and the institution are the nemeses, not the people, the copaganda is chucked right out, there’s a level of understanding and empathy that was misdirected at best before that’s turned around, it’s stunning.
Katy and I watched the miniseries Under the Bridge, somewhat based on a horrible true story about a group of girls who were failed by society that go on to make terrible decisions, leading to one of them being murdered. It’s deftly nuanced, in that no one is blameless but everyone is sympathetic or at least understandable. Reminds me of something I learned in therapy, that I can understand all of the things that led someone to make a decision but that doesn’t excuse the impact of their decision nor invalidate how it affected others. We want things to be black and white, good and evil, but nothing has only two sides.
Speaking of young ladies behaving badly, we also watched Echo Valley. Starring Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney, this movie is not at all what you think it is. The trailer says it’s about a mother needing to cover up a murder perpetrated by her daughter, and yeah it’s that but holy moly it goes on to be so much more. At least three times I asked Katy if she expected what we just saw happen and neither of us did. Anyway, watch this closely and ask lots of questions.
I’ve been watching Stick for a few weeks now and I’ve decided that yeah, I like this show. It’s a bit of a slow burn, maybe because I don’t care about golf, but as the focus begins to turn away from Owen Wilson’s character and shines on the rest of the characters it shines. Lilli Kay especially stands out, being a fan of their work in Your Honor.
Atsuko Okatsuka’s new special, Father is top to bottom hilarious. I’ve been into her since I heard her on Andy Richter’s podcast and became a big fan after seeing her on After Midnight. Katy was unfamiliar with her and and came in blind and was laughing big within a few minutes. Atsuko gets into her own wild history with some wonderfully outrageous digressions. Worth a watch if you want to laugh for an hour!
Sierra Ferrell’s Trail of Flowers is a truly good album. I’ve been familiar with her work but this week I decided to make a focused listen. I want to make comparisons to things like how it fits into the alt-country genre I like so much a la Sturgill Simpson or Tyler Childers, but that doesn’t seem right. Her lyrics speak to her past and I wanted to say she’s like a modern-day Johnny Cash in that way, but that’s also not right. She’s truly her own thing and I dig it.
Here she is doing a few songs for an NPR Tiny Desk Concert:
Wonderful, right? If pop country’s not for you but you want something that’d fit right in with Willie and Waylon and the boys, give this album a whirl.
LIFE DRAWING
On Friday our drawing group met up at a park for some figure drawing. Here’s the three 25 minute poses Joanna did for us.
I’m pretty happy with all of these sketches and I’ll ideally revisit them for more finished paintings in the next few weeks. I was so overjoyed with doing that last time around and want to explore it some more.
The main skill I work with figure drawing is matching observation with being in the moment and working quickly for the time I have. It’s so different with my studio process, where I spend a lot of time just looking and thinking about how I’m going to make the painting, visualizing its whole process. With a live model, I have to just jump in and do the thing.
I’ve also enjoyed the idea of revisiting the sketches with further studies and finished paintings. It’s a lovely, relaxed way to work and so far the results have been enlightening.
Important Garden Update
YOU GOOD?
I purposefully toss all of the cards that come with my flowers after I plant them, because I love getting surprised throughout the months as they grow and bloom. For instance, this one shot out a bunch of buds and I had no idea what to expect when they opened and I got THIS.
It’s nice to be able to set things in motion that will surprise me in a joyous way down the line, you know? None of it counters the horrible headlines but being surprised by a pretty flower is still nice.
Love you more,
Rob