Hi. My name's Rob Schamberger. I'm that guy who paints rasslers. And other stuff. With more artistic flavor.

Study of a Sculpture of the Goddess Durga

Watercolor on 9” x 12” watercolor paper

I used a less-rendered approach to this, mostly just the colors and the deep shadows. I didn’t intend for this to happen but it gave it an almost-cartoony look that I kind of adore. It doesn’t happen too often but sometimes a painting will ‘tell’ me that it wants to be something other than what I want it to be and I’ve learned to let that play out.

Study of Germain Pilon’s Statue of Saint Barbara

Watercolor on 9” x 12” watercolor paper

I had a particularly rough therapy session last Monday morning and decided to go hang out at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art afterwards to center myself a bit, where they have this early 1580’s marble statue on display. It’s in the antiquities wing, which I don’t go to very often but I’m glad I wandered over that way as it’s a remarkable piece in person.

A few days later I had an epiphany about my relationship with being an artist: The me of today is only acting at the behest of the child me who dreamed of being an artist and the me of a dozen years ago who figured out how to do it full-time. The me of today, with all of his experience and influences, doesn’t have a voice. Does that make sense? I’m still trying to wrap my own head around it. I think I’m trying to figure out what current-day me would do if he were starting fresh, what kind of art he would make, how he would do it, for what motivations and towards which goals.

I don’t know the answers to any of those questions yet but at least I’m finally asking them of myself.

Here’s a preview of Thursday’s new Mercedes Mone painting. I had a pretty major breakthrough on this one thanks to Tikka’s help. You’ll see!

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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Rob’s prints and shirts at Pro Wrestling Tees
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Bluesky
Cara
YouTube
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Katy’s book Oldest Kansas City

I’m catching up on Slow Horses ahead of the new season coming in a few weeks and finished season three a few days ago. It had a much bigger and action-packed feel to it than the prior seasons, something earned after a lot of solid characterization. Caring about the characters and knowing what each of them is dealing with makes it more impactful when everything goes boom.

Tangentially related, but Friday night I had a dream that I was watching a new season and they added Ernie from Sesame Street, still as a Muppet. Seeing him giggle while Gary Oldman yells at him for being an inept twat is stuck in my imagination now.

The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly is a stealthily complicated novel. On its surface it feels like a fun-yet-unrealistic high concept legal thriller where the Lincoln Lawyer has to defend himself Pro Se from prison for a murder he didn’t commit. That’s entertaining and all, but what makes this take on another level is that it’s set in the first couple months of 2020 before Americans were fully aware of what was coming with the Covid-19 pandemic. So there’s this extra urgency the characters don’t know that he needs to get this court case wrapped up really soon, as well as the knowledge that while he may get out of prison he’s still about to face lockdown. Really well done.

Friday morning I finished reading Lost Marvels Book Two: Howard Chaykin, collecting for the first time a couple of his early Marvel work like Monark Starstalker and a color Dominic Fortune, as well as the later Marvel Max series for Fortune and the WWI dogfight epic Phantom Eagle with writer Garth Ennis. This was my first time seeing Starstalker and while the story didn’t do much for me, Chaykin’s art during this period was so full of creative draftsmanship. I had read the other stuff before when it first came out but it was a blast reuniting with them, especially Phantom Eagle as I’m a sucker for any Ennis war stories. And man, Howard drawing a WWI dogfight is so dang excellent. I love that Fantagraphics is doing these books.

Yesterday morning I completed reading Thor: The Dark Gods by Dan Jurgens, John Romita Jr, Klaus Janson and friends. This was a big blindspot in my superhero comics reading, having missed out on it originally due to financial obligations and then never revisited it. And man, did I MISS OUT. JRJR along with Klaus are at their artistic best, giving the series a proper godlike scale right up there with Jack Kirby and Walt Simonson’s runs. Dan Jurgens is on writing duty, introducing a series of sinister previously-unknown gods with ties to the Asgardians, and also a new status quo for Thor that ties him to an EMT. JRJR’s designs for these new gods are epic and are another notch in the belt for why he’s one of the best superhero artists ever.

Trans rights are human rights.

Katy and I hadn’t been to trivia in a few weeks and made it back on Thursday. As soon as we walked into the bar, another team asked us to join up with them for the night. Normally we play on our own or with another couple but figured, sure, why not. There were only two of them from the other team as the rest of their members couldn’t make it.

They’re both retired teachers and a lot of fun. When we play I draw something fun on the whiteboard and they asked if I could do Mark Twain. Challenge accepted! The other couple we play with also came, so we had a super team of six and friend, we killed it. Tied for first and lost the tiebreaker! Our best outing to date and the host said it was the first time he had two teams get every question except one right the whole game.

Katy and I play just for fun and not competitively, it’s something we do to be in the moment together without distractions. But it was hella fun to come that close to winning, too.

Love you more,
Rob