David Sandlin in His Studio (work in progress, 7)

Front surface

Back of panel

While I normally prepare my own boards with home-made rabbit-skin glue gesso, this time I'm painting on a vintage, commercially prepared gesso panel. I recently bought a number of panels, probably manufactured in the 1940s-50s, from the estate of Athens, GA, artist Frank Ruzicka. The panels have a rough, spattered texture instead of the usual smooth finish. The gesso was obviously sprayed on. It's a nice surface to work on. I've seen temperas by Reginald Marsh from the '40s on boards with a similar surface. This is a 24 x 30 panel that I cut down to size.