SHOP TALK: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 29JUN25

She is like a cat in the dark.

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Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. Rings like a bell through the night.

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WORDS  

‘Shaded’

Watercolor on 9” x 12” watercolor paper

After last week’s outdoor figure drawing session I wanted to work up some paintings from the sketches I did out there and this is the first one of Joanna. It was oppressively hot out but manageable in the shade that day and I thought this piece summed that up pretty nicely.

Here’s the sketch from last week, for process’ sake:

I loved the levels of framing, in that the foliage was defined by the sky behind it and both in turn framed Joanna in the cast shadows from the trees. She was actually in the direct light for this but I thought the cast shadows created more of a mood and sense of environment.

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I’m in the early writing stage for Nostos/Algos. I did a first attempt and it wasn’t working at all, but I think I found a better way in and that’s working. It’s got big action and fun visuals to counterbalance some really heavy stuff and I’m currently doing the heavy stuff first, because it’s central to the structure of the story. None of this makes sense to you and you won’t see this in its entirety for a couple years at least (provided I’m still allowed by law to make art and books by then, based on Friday’s Supreme Court rulings), but it’s been a profound experience so far that I’m intimidated by but also hopeful for.

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UPCOMING AEW/PWT PAINTINGS  

• Kenny Omega

• Skye Blue

• Kyle Fletcher

• The Young Bucks

• Mina Shirakawa

Card subject to change.

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(There’s a new product type coming soon for my work at ShopAEW that we’re working on. More on that once it’s available.)

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

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WHAT I LIKED THIS WEEK

Last Sunday I went to see 28 Years Later and thought it was pretty fun. I’ve noticed the discourse around this is that it’s goofy and not serious enough and…yeah? I mean, it’s a zombie movie. It’s inherently based on something that’s not real. Sometimes science fiction gives you an episode of Star Trek TNG where Beverly has sex with a ghost and sometimes sci-fi gives you the 2003 Battlestar Galactica. Both good, but each their own thing and neither invalidating the existence of the other. If you want a zombie story where a dad and his son cry a lot, there’s plenty of options out there. If you want one where there’s big swinging-dicked zombies and disco ninjas and skull sculptures (skullptures), 28 Years Later is your jam.

Katy and I watched the first season of Department Q and found it to be good fun and full of wild twists that somehow never felt like too much. Like, I was struggling during the first episode, thinking I knew what it was and BOY HOWDY did it go in completely different directions. The supporting cast all had their own stories and motivations but all in service to the bigger stories, never distracting or feeling pointless. It’s similar to Slow Horses but with the edges sanded a little more, yet still enough of an edge to keep things engaging.

Katy and I are 5 episodes into The Bear season 4 so far and truly loving it. We may be in the minority for also enjoying season three, as it challenged the characters in a way you don’t see too often and then left things hanging. Season four picks things right up, resetting and reassembling the characters as they move towards the finale. It also shows a solid way to upgrade a dish of Hamburger Helper.

We watched the first episode of Smoke, a noirish thriller based around arson investigators in the Pacific Northwest. I didn’t know until the other day that this is a Dennis LeHane original story, which got me even more excited for it since he’s my very favorite author. The first episode does an excellent job of setting up the main characters and setting them at odds as they move towards trying to catch two serial arsonists. It’s sexy and gritty and doesn’t shy away from being a little too real, but also leans into beauty.

The Wrestler by John Kenn Mortensen is a bad ass graphic novel about a pro wrestler having his final match…in HELL. It’s black metal AF and never takes the foot off the pedal. Wait until you see Mortensen’s vision for what turnbuckles are made out of in Hell, man. Crazy stuff.

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I turn 45 on Tuesday. That’s weird.

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More surprise flowers!

YOU GOOD?

Last year Katy planted a couple bushes in our front yard where a tree came down in a storm. We promptly forgot what they were and this year we’re getting a better feel. One’s a thorny blackberry bush that SHOULD fruit next year. The other is this huge wild bergamot that this week started blooming. What lovely purple flowers, right? It’s become a hub for pollinators in the area, which we’re all about. It’s massive at about 5’ tall, surprising after the dang rabbits ate it down to a nub at the end of last season. But I’ve been applying rabbit scram after each rain and that’s working well, as you can see.

So yeah, I’m an old man that shakes his fist at rabbits and tells them to get off my lawn now. I’m close to being my full form.

Love you more,
Rob

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