SOLO SIKOA: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 16OCT22

You don't know me but I'm your brother.

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Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. You don’t know my kind in your world.

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WORDS  

I’ve had my eye on Solo Sikoa since he debuted in NXT and once he came to join his family in The Bloodline I knew it was time to make my first painting of him. I wanted to do a traditional-for-me ink and watercolor painting, more as a way to check in on where my skills are currently at.

As I’ve talked about in the past, Samoan tattoos are not the easiest thing to paint, but I’ve found lately that using masking fluid for the highlights and glares on the skin makes them a lot more manageable. Came out looking pretty dang nice, actually. As I was inking the towel I was having a heck of a time getting the texture right and had an ‘ah-ha’ moment, grabbed a black colored pencil and got the exact look I was after.

This is my first painting of Solo Sikoa, but I get the feeling that it’s far from the last!

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ICYMI, here's last week's Canvas 2 Canvas episode. Tomorrow's will go up on WWE's YouTube channel at 11AM CST!

UPCOMING VIDEOS  

• Ilja Dragunov

• Mankind - Halloween Acrylic!

• Candice LeRae

• Veer Mahaan

Card subject to change.

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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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Twitter
Instagram
YouTube

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SCHAMBERGER LABS: THE SERIES!

In this week's episode, I paint the destroyed ring for my epic Roman Reigns SummerSlam Wrestling Landscape painting! Remember when Brock Lesnar destroyed a wrestling ring with a tractor? Now you do! It's immortalized in paint! You're gonna remember it forever, kiddo!

Here’s how it looks so far:

QUICK NOTE: My plate suddenly got very full and I may have to take occasional breaks from working on this in-between. I hope not, but maybe.

I’m one guy doing his best out here.

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EXCLUSIVE BRAY WYATT PRINT

Full details here.

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WHAT I LIKED LAST WEEK

Last Sunday Katy and I watched The Black Phone and liked it a lot. So, you know, all of those people who said it’s a really enjoyable movie? We agree with them. It’s a horror film for sure, but also very uplifting in surprising ways.

The full season of the new Beavis & Butt-Head is done and it’s, like, everything. What an accomplishment to make something so smart about two very stupid characters. Plus the final episode has a bit about both of them trying to put the other’s hand in warm water while sleeping to make them pee their pants and it goes to expected yet hilarious lengths. And then: Bonersaurus.

Kali by Daniel Freedman and Robert Sammelin knocked my socks off. It’s a badass post-apocalyptic girl biker gang revenger story following the titular Kali as she sets out to take down the members of her former gang who have betrayed her to join up with the fascists. That was an amazing sentence to type out. Definitely in the same vein as Fury Road, if you’re a fellow fan of that movie. Plus! Sammelin drew the hell out of this. Every page is a feast for the eyes.

Rain by Joe Hill, adapted by David M Booher and Zoe Thorogood is a cool graphic novel take on the short story by Hill. One day instead of rain, crystalline nails fall from the sky, killing millions around the world. A young woman sets out on a dangerous mission to make sure her now-dead girlfriend’s family is taken care of, unknowingly setting off an even more tragic set of events. It’s really moving.

I listened to Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi while traveling last Sunday and then finished it up while working on the new Wyatt painting. The second story from Scalzi’s Dispatcher story, it continues to explore a world where murders can’t happen anymore. Unless they can.

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YOU GOOD? 

The above picture is a fraction of what my biggest collector of original art, Chris, has in his new home! I’d imagine every artist dreams of seeing something like this, right? And yes, those are all the original paintings. Chris also does a great job with matting them and having the subjects sign the mats instead of on the original paintings, as doing so directly on them damages the art.

Katy and I have been fortunate enough to become friends with Chris and his family over the years, too. Seeing his son going from being a little dude to being as tall as me now is wild.

Wild week for me. Pretty much nonstop.

Traveled home on Sunday, got right to work on Monday and Tuesday making the new Wyatt piece before having a meeting Tuesday afternoon on a very important secret project.

Wednesday I finished up a few things before brick wall-ing, listened to my body, and took an apparently much-needed nap and then took off the rest of the day. Thursday I started next week’s Ilja Dragunov and finished it up on Friday. Thursday night Katy and I stepped out for the 16th anniversary of our first date, a very lovely dinner to reinforce what we’re working so hard for. Friday I also put together tomorrow’s Canvas 2 Canvas.

Yesterday I started work on the Top Secret Project, put together this week’s episode of Schamberger Labs, and wrote this here newsletter. Whew!

Katy and I can’t talk about either thing yet, but she participated in a massive pitch for her company Tuesday morning and then I had a meeting for what could end up being my biggest project yet. It’s kind of rad what happened in our house that day.

I’ve been open with you about the various things I’m struggling with and am working on in therapy, and one of those is imposter syndrome and all of the factors that led to it being a thing for me. I’ve been having a heck of a time this week since the big secret project was greenlit and I think my brain can’t reconcile that I earned something this massive. I’m trying really hard to focus on the ‘earned’ part, that this is something I put in the work to earn and that it’s not a thing that’s just ‘happening’ or ‘luck’ or anything like that. That it’s not an accident, but instead an opportunity I’ve worked a decade for.

Sorry for being so vague, I can’t say more about this until it’s announced but when it IS announced you’ll understand. It’s the kind of thing everyone in our sphere of influence will hear about and see. Probably one of the biggest things that can happen at thistime for someone who does what I do.

And I earned it.

Love you more,
Rob

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EXCLUSIVE PAID SUBSCRIBER CONTENT

Paid subscribers this week will get an exclusive 25% off discount code for prints, upcoming signed print releases at WWE Auction, and 24 hour advance access for the original Solo Sikoa painting. WE ARE GO FOR PAYWALL.