SHOP TALK: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 23APR23

The tide is high but I'm holdin' on.

Apr 23, 2023

∙ Paid

Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. But I’ll wait my dear ‘till it’s my turn.

Surf’s up.

WHAT’S NEW?

During our trip to Hawaii back in January I was doing a sunrise stroll along the beach and saw this surfer standing out on the lava rocks, surveying the ocean before going out to catch a wave. It was such a cool visual I snapped a picture on my phone with the intention to paint it and finally did this past week over the course of several days as a warmup piece.

I used a lilac violet primer coat and then built up on top of that, which gives it that salt air atmosphere I was after, matching that early morning light as the sun comes up.

ICYMI, here's last week's Canvas 2 Canvas episode. Turned out pretty swell in my opinion.

UPCOMING VIDEOS

4/30 - Rhea Ripley
5/14 - Austin Theory
5/28 - Lita
6/11 - Brock Lesnar

Card subject to change.

Hundreds of prints and paintings at Schamberger Labs!
Rob and Jason Arnett's novella Rudow Can't Fail!
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Signed prints at WWE Auction.
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Instagram
YouTube

REMARQUE GIVEAWAY

I’m giving away ONE of these hand-painted remarqued prints at random to anyone who leaves a comment telling me what’s got you most excited about this Spring and Summer.

WWE2K23 ICON EDITION

Hey, I painted this. No, I’m not going to shut up about it. It’s in a TV commercial now. That’s rad.

WHAT I LIKED THIS WEEK

I finished reading the Predator Omnibus a few days ago, collecting all of the works from Dark Horse during their time with the property. I had read NONE of this when it originally came out and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Notable standouts were ‘The Bloody Sands of Time’, ‘Bad Blood’, ‘Kindred’ and the incredible ‘Invaders From the Fourth Dimension’ which is among the best Predator ANYTHING out there. It’s like Ed Wood, Matinee and Leave it to Beaver crossed over with Predator.

Peepland by Christa Faust, Gary Phillips and Andrea Camerini was an early Hard Case Crime graphic novel that I had somehow missed when it originally came out. An honest look at the peepshow booths in 80’s Times Square coupled with corruption, the price of power, and the people who ultimately have to pay.

Last week Rip Rogers was on the Worst Territory in the World podcast and it’s one of the best things ever. NOT one to listen to around kids, but I’ll forever think about what $240 could get you in Missouri in the mid-80’s.

Picard Season Three wrapped up on Thursday. It was a solid farewell to the Next Generation cast and their stories and sets up for potential new stories in that sector of the galaxy. Speaking candidly, this was more of a journey than a destination for me. Like, you’re going to see cool things on this hike up the mountain but the view once you’re there isn’t as satisfying as the moments that got you there. Still a worthy journey.

Excited for season two of Strange New Worlds in June!

Katy and I finished watching Your Honor Season Two and I feel like it’s a pitch-perfect noir story. One moment of being the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time sets off a sprawling epic that affects everyone in its orbit. The outstanding cast led by Brian Cranston goes places I couldn’t have predicted and subverts all other expectations.

Beavis & Butthead Season Two started up on Thursday and it’s off to a properly dumb and hilarious start. The idiots have to join a meditation group and find it too easy to empty their minds of all thoughts, leading to spiritual enlightenment. THEN! They watch a rap video and decide they want to see pole dancers so they go to the local polling place on voting day.

The damn funniest premises with perfect payoff.

I watched the first episode of Mrs Davis yesterday and it’s one of the best first episodes I’ve seen in a long time. It’s like Buckaroo Banzai meets Indiana Jones by way of Top Secret and The Matrix, starring GLOW’s Betty Gilpin as a two-fisted nun with a dark secret. Full of action, wonder and fun.

My studiomates.

YOU GOOD?

At the time this is sent out I should be on the road to Chicago so that I can work WWE Raw tomorrow. I haven’t had a long drive (it’s about 8 hours from Kansas City to Chicago) in a little while and it sounded nice. I’ve been cooped up in the house/studio a lot and it’ll be good to change up the scenery for a few days.

Most of the past week was spent on the testing phase of Top Secret Project: CODENAME SABOTAGE, which got more and more exciting as it went. I haven’t done a big IT project like this in…a decade and a half? Two decades? And it’s nice to know that I can still hang.

FUN FACT: My first ‘real’ job out of high school was at a bank back in 1999 and as a resident young person I was heavily involved in computerizing the institution. I taught the ladies how to do spreadsheets, computerized account information and was on the Y2K project to make sure we wouldn’t crash. There actually was some stuff we had to alter, from a two-digit year code to a four-digit code. Funnily enough, the only thing that went down with the Y2K bug was the ancient microwave that was probably killing us anyway.

But we’re REALLY CLOSE to going live on SABOTAGE. Likely this coming week, if not the beginning of May. When I first got the call on this opportunity I thought it’d be a two week process and not three months. I definitely didn’t think there’d be as much up-front cost on this as there has been. That said, I feel fortunate to have the skills and resources to make all of this happen on my end.

Expect a bonus announcement email when it goes live. You’ll know first.

Love you more,
Rob

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