Rob Schamberger

Rob Schamberger is an American painter, best known for his portraiture of professional wrestlers. He is currently the host of Canvas 2 Canvas on the WWE Network. He currently resides in Kansas City. Rob's technique involves the tracing/copying of promotional images or video stills to paper or canvas after which he uses various materials such as acrylic (Liquitex basics or Amsterdam standard series are favourites), watercolour (appear to be unbranded pan sets), ink and paint markers, to create his work. Often many materials are used in the same painting in a mixed media fashion. Schamberger uses what appear to be synthetic round brushes in a variety of sizes as well as a painting knife to create his works. Regarding tracing Schamberger himself has stated - "Man, I could give a damn."[1]

Meet Me There film poster with artwork from Schamberger

Schamberger has a great eye for unusual colour combinations and uses a technique not unlike the posturization tool in Photoshop to break down the original reference photos to create something that is often quite unique when compared to the source material although his work in ink can vary in quality with some likenesses not quite hitting the mark. This might be as a result of having his reference on a monitor some way behind him and to one side rather than closer to hand. This can be seen briefly in some of the Canvas 2 Canvas videos and might be as a result of trying to avoid comparisons from viewers about the direct referencing of images in a painting by numbers fashion or an attempt to hide photomanipulation that is done in advance of the painting as although these steps are a common part of many illustrators work processes some artists can remain sensitive about how much is referenced to avoid criticism. Whatever the case Schamberger has a distinctive style and though his grinding he has created a near six figure business, something to be admired.

On the Canvas 2 Canvas Youtube videos discussion in the comments section often turns into a catalyst for community chat regarding the sports entertainers that Schamberger has painted that week. The artist himself will many times chime in with a thank you if praise is left but can appear rude and surly if his work is at all criticized. Some also find Schamberger's dry tone and self praise in his videos irritating whilst others appreciate the commentary.

Schamberger's work is printed on a variety of WWE merchandise, including some incredibly popular tee shirt designs and he also sells limited edition prints through his own store and original paintings through WWE auctions.

References

  1. ↑ http://robschamberger.com/process-week-day-one/
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