SHOP TALK: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 30JUN24

Tomorrow never comes until it's too late.

Jun 30, 2024

Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. Is it your birthday?

WORDS

Above is another Florence, Italy study I made in between other projects this week. I truly fell in love with the tight, winding streets there and the jagged silhouettes they create against the sky. I plan to do more in-depth paintings of these somewhere down the line, but for now I’m kinda working out my approach I’ll take with them by doing these studies.

Speaking of Italy (as if I talk about anything else lately, amirite), I revisited this painting of our model Fede I did during my time there learning from Olga Litvinenko. A big thing that shook loose in my brain from that experience was coming around to the mindset of doing successive studies before making a finished painting. It was an offhand comment Olga made on the final day but it unlocked something in my process that I’m enjoying.

Below are the original watercolor sketch and the finished study I did working from life with Fede.

The mindset shift here is that previously I would have viewed the finished study as the final painting and not revisit it as an in-studio work. So, the sketch was working out the colors and composition and then the study is an opportunity to put those ideas into practice and learn what works and what doesn’t in execution. It’s just another step towards making a final piece.

I was very happy with the study of Fede, but with how much I enjoyed the last couple paintings I revisited where I -didn’t- like the studies, I was eager to see what happened with one I felt I already did a solid job on.

And…yeah. This worked really well.

It’s amazing how profound an effect two weeks can have on one’s life in such a positive way. I feel so fortunate that I was in a position to do this trip and am excited to see how I continue to grow from everything I learned. FYI, Katy just did a lovely essay about how the trip impacted her as well.

UPCOMING AEW/PWT PAINTINGS

(Yes, the schedule’s been a bit chaotic recently but we’re all working together behind the scenes to smooth this out a lot. The next three weeks are pretty locked in, though!)

Kris Statlander
Vader - IT’S TIME!
Adam Copeland
MJF
Randy Savage

Card subject to change.

Hey, thanks for the instant sellouts on the original Swerve and Ospreay paintings on Friday. The AEW folks are new to the original art game and were pleasantly surprised by how well they performed.

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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Instagram
Threads
Cara
YouTube

WHAT I LIKED THIS WEEK

Earlier this week Katy and I finished our first rewatch of all of Mad Men since it originally aired. I’d forgotten how influential this show was on me until I started quoting along with the dialogue multiple times. “The day you sign a client starts the clock on the day you lose them.” “That’s what the money is for.” “I don’t think about you at all.” And so many more gems. Along with the incredible growth you see from all of the characters, including growing up with Sally Draper as she becomes a main character by final season.

I forget who said it first, but a spinoff starring Kiernan Shipka as Sally Draper set in 80’s New York would be amazing, wouldn’t it?

I also finished up a rewatch of Battlestar Galactica now that it’s on Prime. I still don’t love the ending, but I like to think of the show as being about the journey and not the destination. Which is hilarious, because the plot is kinda the same thing: Earth is the destination, but all of the drama comes from their journey getting there. But lordy, from the moment the Pegasus shows up in season two they never let up on the gas. The exodus from New Caprica somehow took things up another level, and then they cemented themselves as one of the great shows of the golden age of prestige television with the season three finale. Not sticking the landing to my liking is totally okay when the rest of the series is so magnificent.

Katy and I are in the midst of watching The Bear Season Three. No spoilers, but the fifth episode has Kerry Von Erich, Lance Catamaran and Jimmy King in it.

My good friend Jake Black wrote the Rick & Morty: Finals Week - The Wrath of Beth one-shot comic, gorgeously illustrated by Marc Ellerby. It’s a fun one-off where Beth has to clean things up after Rick tries to teach Morty about religion. It’s like when my uncle intervened in my theological understandings when I was 13, except this comic also has aliens and ray guns in it. Jake perfectly matched the tone of the show, which isn’t a shocker considering what a prolific writer he is. And yeah, Ellerby drew the hell out of this comic. Definitely worth picking up for the Rick & Morty fans out there.

Coda: False Dawns by Simon Spurrier and Matias Bergara is a gorgeous thing to look at. I’m a huge fan of Bergara’s art and any time he gets to let loose in a fantasy world like this is totally worth picking up.

COMMISSIONS ARE OPEN!

I think it’d be fun to open commissions back up in a limited way. Here’s the rules:

I’m doing 9x12 watercolors of single figures with a limited background. $250 each, money due up front.

No active AEW or WWE wrestlers, for contractual reasons. But if you want something like a painting of your partner or family member for a gift, or someone from a Marvel movie or a Scorsese film (deep cut joke for film snobs), or pretty much anything else I’ve got you covered. But always feel free to ask if you’re unsure.

These are for personal collectors and are not commercial jobs. If you want to resell the painting, sure, I guess, it’s yours, but this doesn’t grant you a copyright or license to the work for commercial purposes. If that’s something you’re interested in for your company, we can have those talks, but this is something I’m doing for personal collectors.

Sound interesting? Then just reply to this email or send one directly to robschamberger at gmail with what you’re interested in. If it’s something I feel I could do for you I’ll send you a link for payment and an estimate on how long it will take me to finish. I figure I can do about four a month between my other responsibilities. I’ll streamline this process in the coming weeks but this works for now.

I finished up the first commission on Friday and it was hella fun. The collector wants to wait to see it in person before I share it, but I think you’ll really dig it. A comic book character I honestly never thought I’d ever paint but I’m so glad I did!

This effin’ guy.

YOU GOOD?

Tomorrow is my 44th birthday. 43 was a rollercoaster of a year for me, looking back on it. Career upheavals, world travel, the whole gamut. It’s definitely one of the most eventful years of my life, all said.

A few notable birthday memories from over the years:

The He-Man, Superman and Voltron cakes my mom got me for some early birthdays. Probably ages 3-5 or thereabouts. I might be wrong about the years but those cakes rocked.

How about that Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez Superman shirt in the last picture, right?

Around 11:55PM the night before turning 18, I walked into a gas station and asked for a pack of smokes and a nudie mag. The clerk actually made me wait five minutes before ringing up the transaction. I hope she still tells that story just like I still do.

My friend Tom’s dad’s band played a house party for a work party of some sort (maybe lawyers? I can’t remember much from that night) and invited me along since it was my 21st birthday. I ended up skinny dipping in the pool. Rock and roll, baby!

For my 40th Katy had my best friend Andy come up. It was the height of the pandemic, so he drove in and we did everything outside. He still managed to show up dressed like the guy from the Risk box. My neighbor was walking in as Andy was performing in costume on my front yard and the neighbor shook his head and said, “Listen, I’m just trying to get in my house, okay?”

The fake mustache kept falling off during his speech, naturally.

What’s your own favorite birthday memory?