SHOP TALK: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 27APR25
Yes, it's safe to dance.
Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. I say we can go where we want to.
WORDS
NEEDS: PHYSICAL SAFETY
Watercolor on 12” x 16” watercolor paper
“The protection of individuals from harm or injury in their environment.”
A bit of a journey in making this one! The seed crystal of the idea came last July during a figure drawing session with my model Doug. I really liked the pose of him and asked if I could take a photo to do a polished study back in the studio. I still like the sketch and study a lot, although even at the time I was thinking what do I actually do with this? How do I make it not just look good but have meaning?
Flash forward several months to when I was developing this series and that study of Doug was at the top of my mind, as I knew I wanted to work with him for this. I worked up this new sketch and another study more in line with what I’m doing with these.
I’m taking a slight pause with this series while I develop my next big project and line up the final two models. Thanks for the very kind words about the paintings I’ve made so far!
The only thing that matters is how you feel when you close your eyes.
UPCOMING AEW/PWT PAINTINGS
Timeless Toni Storm
Swerve Strickland
Hangman Adam Page
Kazuchika Okada
Orange Cassidy
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
###
Bluesky
Cara
YouTube
WHAT I LIKED THIS WEEK
Wednesday night I went to see Warfare. I enjoy co-writer/director Alex Garland’s work a lot and didn’t know a whole lot else about the movie going in. It’s a human-focused and realistic-as-possible depiction of the Battle of Ramadi and one of the most intense movie-going experiences I’ve had. It’s taken directly from the memories of the members of the SEAL team the story follows and is co-written by Ray Mendoza, one of the team’s members. The cast disappeared into their roles, to the point I didn’t recognize D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Cosmo Jarvis or Michael Gandolfini until reading up on it afterwards. It’s really well done, but man go into it with a GIANT trigger warning because it doesn’t sanitize any of the realities of what these men went through.
Dark Winds season three was a pretty good mixed bag, lifted way up by performances by Zahn McClarnon, Jessica Matten and Deanna Allison. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a police procedural set on a southwest reservation, told from the perspective of its large indigenous cast of characters. Episode 6 (What We Had Been Told) is an especially strong piece of television, feeling more like it belonged in Twin Peaks in all of the right ways.
I’m about halfway into Slow Horses season two and enjoying it quite a bit. The premise of British intelligence officers that are a combination of disliked and bumbling oafs, grouped together for roles deemed insignificant. However, they’re still very capable and often find themselves working on very important missions, even if the people in charge don’t think so. Also, it’s wild that there’s a show starring Gary Oldman with a theme song by Mick Jagger and most people don’t even know it exists.
A few days ago I discovered the existence of the spectacular 1960’s marionette show Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again. Yo, this shit is WILD. These puppets are getting shot up, mangled and exploded on a regular basis and THIS IS A SHOW FOR CHILDREN. Just see for yourself:
Wu-Tang is for the children and so is Captain Scarlet.
Friday I read Plastic Man No More! by Christopher Cantwell, Alex Lins and Jacob Edgar and enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s a story about Plastic Man facing the end of his life and trying to make things right with his estranged son, with increasingly bad results from each effort. I’ve enjoyed Cantwell’s writing from the outstanding show Halt & Catch Fire and now his plentiful body of comics work and the art by Lins and Edgar is absolutely gorgeous.
Finally, a quick shoutout to the new GoComics site. They recently revamped it and added all of the games from their now-defunct sister site Puzzle Society, so with a three buck subscription you get all of their comics without ads and now a few dozen word and logic games. If you’re unfamiliar, GoComics is the site for the Andrews McMeel Universal syndicate, so you get all of those great newspaper comic strips and you can actually pick your favorites and get a daily individual feed. I’m big on Nancy right now, personally.
I’m a fan on the games myself. Every morning with my tea I play about seven of them (big ups to my favorite, Hex 10) and every Sunday morning Katy and I do the USA Today Crossword together. It’s a delightful way to get my brain going before I start work.
Photo by Paul Andrews
TO A KID LOOKING UP TO ME? LIFE AIN’T NOTHIN’ BUT PAINTINGS AND MONEY
A friend’s high school-aged kid reached out with some questions about starting a career in the arts. In case this is helpful to anyone, here’s those questions and my answers:
1. How important is getting a secondary education for pursuing a career in the arts?
It depends on the career you're after in the arts. As a fine artist and occasional freelance artist, I've never once been asked to show a diploma. It kind of comes down to whether you can make something people like to look at, right? That said, I'm also not qualified to be a teacher as I never went to college and don't have a degree. Most companies that have an art department like marketing and advertising agencies also require some sort of college education, although most of that is to show that someone is trained on current software. Those agencies are also after designers more than fine art painters.
Okay, I take it back. There WAS one gallery that refused to show my work because I didn't go to college. I still make fun of them for that with my friends.
2. What is your level of education?
I have a high school diploma from Lee's Summit High School, class of 1998. Go Tigers!
3. What was your journey to become a working artist, and how do you sustain yourself?
Long and grueling, honestly. I started working professionally at 17 when I self-published my own comic book and sold it around town out of the trunk of my car. True story. I had work but never enough for it to be a full-time job, so I had day jobs to essentially pay for my art career until I could get things rolling. I picked jobs that I knew I'd be miserable at but that would teach me skills I'd need as an artist, which is essentially being a small business owner (we sell artistic goods and services, both business-to-business and business-to-consumer). So, a couple banks, office jobs, stuff like that where I learned finance and business to allow me to both run my own operation better and to negotiate with clients, but also jobs I wouldn't get comfortable at and move away from my art.
Looking at my work as a business I started thinking about how I would market it, and to effectively stand out in a field you need at least one of the following three things: To be the first, the best, or completely different. I realized my subject matter didn't stand out because I wasn't hitting any of those things with my subject matter, so I changed that up to focus on paintings of pro wrestlers. At the time, there wasn't much in the way of anyone doing that, so I was instantly able to do all three of the things I needed to stand out. Once that clicked I was able to transition full-time to being an artist and it's stuck for 12 years so far.
If you just did the math, yes it really took that long to make the full-time switch.
4. What are some ways to get connected with other artists and art opportunities within the community?
There's a lot of drawing groups around the area, whether it's working with a model or just hanging out for sketchbook jams. Various galleries and museums sponsor these, as well as fellow artists. It's a nice way to find community and continue to grow your skills. There's the old saying that "It's not what you know, but who you know," and there's some truth to that. What I've found though is that you're going to meet WHO you need to know through WHAT you know. I've had a lot of gallery shows simply by being around and having work ready when some other artist flakes out. I had that happen once where an artist ghosted a gallery the week they were supposed to hang and I had a couple dozen pieces ready so I stepped right in and that led to two more shows from other gallerists seeing what I had at that first show.
I don't know how important social media or an online presence are anymore towards sales or discoverability. It honestly seems like that toxic ship has sailed. That said, I'm also an old curmudgeonly man. Get off my lawn! I heard a saying once that the underground punk rock parties didn't stop, it's just that you're too old to get invited. The art world I broke into doesn't exist anymore so my direct apples-to-apples tips on breaking in don't apply nowadays.
That said, the principles remain true. Stay interested in making art and focus on continuing to learn and grow your craft. Everything you make is informed by everything you've already made: What went right, what went wrong, and why. As you continue to apply that knowledge you'll continue to be fresh and in demand. Make the art because you love making it and eventually you'll figure out how to earn a living from it.
IMPORTANT VINEGAR UPDATE
I bottled up my first batch of stout beer vinegar on Friday and last night I used it to make some yummy homemade ketchup. Here’s the recipe:
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup stout beer vinegar
4 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
Salt to taste
2 shakes of smoked paprika
Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan and warm it at low-medium heat, mixing regularly. Once it thickens, take it off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then put it in a sealed container and refrigerate for a few hours before using. Lasts for about four weeks refrigerated, but you can also freeze it for later use.
By the way, the stout beer vinegar is INCREDIBLE. A huge depth of unexpected flavor that I’m really interested to use with things like chili and mac and cheese. Really anything you’d pair a good stout with will benefit from this.
Studio South is up and running!
YOU GOOD?
Twice a year I migrate my studio between Studio South and Studio North. In the warm months I move to Studio South in our sunroom on the south side of the house. What a view, right? Studio North is upstairs on the…well, it’s really complicated on where Studio North’s name comes from.
Being an artist can be a very solitary existence, most of it spent by myself at my drawing table with my incredible cats as my only interaction. Just the nature of the job. That said, I’ve found I like the change in scenery every six months or so. It cuts the isolationist feelings. The cats get excited that I’m in their favorite room, too.
Earlier this week I also did most of our planting, notably with flowers in our window box. I’d wintered a few of the tropical plants in our basement and they did rather well so I’m excited to see how it all comes together in a few months. I love standing in our living room and looking out at all of them, seeing how they look a little different from the day before.
I talk with you from time to time about the things I struggle with and there’s times where it all feels so overwhelming. Like, I’m predisposed to those feelings and right now in a time where things in the country are terrifying I find myself saturated. My therapist recommended I look for the no-asterisk good things in life, the things I enjoy with no strings attached, and to give them space in my mind alongside the tough stuff. Gardening is one of those things for me. Tending my plants around the house is one of my very favorite things to do and I’m so glad that at least in each of these areas, things are doing good.
Moves being made nationally and internationally are affecting me in negative ways, and those feelings are real and valid. But the moments of joy I get from gardening or watching whatever nonsense my cats are getting up to, those feelings are also real and valid. It’s good and healthy to allow those in, too.
Love you more,
Rob