SWERVE STRICKLAND: Rob Schamberger Newsletter 22APR24

Big pressure, I apply.

Apr 22, 2024

Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. Defeating me? You lost your mind.

WORDS

And so it begins!

Here’s my first official painting with AEW, featuring the incomparable Swerve Strickland. This painting, made with ink, watercolor and acrylic paint, is all about his intensity. Like, you NEVER want this man looking at you this way. The red watercolor I mixed in with the grey’s speaks to his intense anger on a subconscious level.

We’re in it now, friend. It’s real.

UPCOMING AEW PAINTINGS

Card subject to change.

Rob’s Art on ShopAEW
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Rob and Jason Arnett's novella Rudow Can't Fail!
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Prints, Signed Prints and Original Paintings at ShopAEW!
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Instagram
Threads
YouTube

WHAT I LIKED THIS WEEK

The new Conan O’Brien Must Go show on Max is outstanding. If you’re familiar with his travel shows from his time as a late night host, you know exactly what to expect. He comes in to other countries to experience them but all for comedic effect and friend, I got some huge laughs watching it. The Buenos Aires episode, especially the bit about the pronunciation of ‘tango’ had me crying I was laughing so hard.

Whistleblowers by Rafael Medoff and Dean Motter is a wonderful book about four people who tried to bring American attention to the Holocaust during World War II and the challenges they faced in doing so. There’s a disturbing amount of similarities to events of today. I read something else a few weeks ago that every couple generations we see these sorts of people rise to power and these sorts of sociological belief systems taking hold because the emotions tied to them are lost over time and people think, well, it won’t happen again. And then it happens again.

Yesterday I read Harlem by Mikael, the third in his ‘triptych’ of graphic novels about Depression-era New York. This one is focused around Stephanie ‘Queenie’ St Clair, the real life crime boss of Harlem during that time. Mikael’s expressive art is a wonder to behold and he does an excellent job of portraying that era’s New York City, from its people to its environments to its feelings of being there.

Katy and I went to see the new movie Civil War yesterday. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s about a hypothetical near-future second American civil war. But it actually uses that as a framework to explore the inhumanity of war and how it affects individual people. I don’t really want to give anything away, because it’s a powerful experience, but Kirsten Dunst gives what might be a career-best performance as a war photographer documenting what’s happening around her. Highly recommend.

SHOGUN

How amazing was last week’s episode of Shogun? AGH. I’ve been blown away (pun intended) by Anna Sawai’s performance as Mariko so I made this 7x10 watercolor while I was between projects. It feels like she’s on her way to being a massive star.

The lilacs are blooming!

YOU GOOD?

“So, anything new going on?” he asked with a chuckle.

Yes, my time with WWE has come to a close. After all of the changes over the past year or so, it wasn’t the right fit anymore and I felt it was time for a change. Sorry to all of the websites out there looking to get some juicy dirt, but that’s all that it was about: It simply wasn’t the right fit anymore.

When I had that realization I weighed out my options on what to do instead. I spent a week or so looking at things outside of wrestling altogether, but thought I’d talk to my old pal Ryan at Pro Wrestling Tee’s/ ShopAEW first. I drove up to Chicago for a meeting, laid out what I was looking for and over the course of a couple more weeks of negotiations we came to an agreement.

Once that was finalized, I notified Fanatics and WWE that I was moving on. They shut things down last Monday night and by Thursday the announcement went out that I’m going to do work for AEW. Just that cut and dry.

Knowing that this was what I wanted, I produced several paintings before the deal was finalized so that we could hit the ground running. I’ve actually finished eight pieces already and am working on the ninth. The tentative plan for the first year is to release a new print each Monday at 12PM CST. Some will be signed by the AEW wrestlers. ShopAEW is handling all of the production and fulfillment on those, as well as working with the talent to get the signatures. That means that I’m shutting down the Schamberger Labs Art Fulfillment Center over the course of the next month or so.

A quick thank you to David, who’s been handling all of my fulfillments over the past few years. If you bought anything from me over the last 2 1/2 years, odds are that he handled your order. He did an excellent job and I’m lucky to have him as a friend, even though he’s a bad influence and keeps getting me to order deluxe Godzilla figures. I couldn’t have made this work without him.

Original paintings will be available down the line. I’ll still handle the fulfillment of those because they’re my babies and I want to do everything I can to reduce the risk of damage. More details on that as they become available.

So, you’re stuck with me and my paintin’s of rasslers. Same work, same subject matter, different initials for who I’m doing them for. And A LOT of first-ever paintings as well as portraits that you never thought you’d see from me again.

Finally, thank you to everyone who reached out to share your encouragement, support and love. The two most important things from my time with WWE are that it gave me the opportunity to make art full time for over a decade, and all of the incredible people it brought into my life. Hearing from them over the past week has truly been wonderful.

Thanks for being on this journey with me. We’re doing something beautiful together, you and I.

Love you more,
Rob