Stillman & Birn Beta Series Softcover Sketchbook, 8.5" x 5.5", 270 gsm (Extra Heavyweight), White Paper, Cold Press Surface

I've been using Stillman & Birn sketchbooks for years. They simply are the best quality with a good variety of choices in sizes and paper. I keep a journal that I fill with writing and illustrations. Some day I plan to leave these journals for my family and want them to last. I use the softcover since it is lighter and I like the feel. For outside use, it might be better to use a hardcover

Nice little size and fantastic ability to handle wet media with no bleed through. Minimal tooth to the surface (that's good, I've had some sketchbooks with way too much tooth for my taste). Holds up to heavy use (lots of water, scrubbing, erasing, etc.). Kind of the perfect little notebook. Paper is white. Colors show up great on it.

I like to create quick ink and watercolor sketches when I travel and this little book fits perfectly in my kit. The 270 gsm means pages don’t wrinkle and the perfect biding means it lays pretty flat. For me this is the perfect little book.

This brand was recommended by an artist I like. It is good quality and works well for my ink and watercolor sketches. No bleeding thru the paper.

I have had this sketchbook for almost a month now and it is almost halfway full. TL;DR - pretty darn good little sketchbook, I reccomend it. Getting into the nitty gritty: Supplies tested- watercolor, ink, gouache, sharpie, copic, pencil, colored pencil, marker, and fountain pen Paper-Good thick, not as much texture as I was expecting for a cold press watercolor paper, but enough texture to make things interesting. Takes layers well. Cons- though it is bound in signatures the glue between some of the signatures seems a bit excessive and makes it hard to draw across the spread on the pages with glue. Certain art materials do rub off on the pages particularly gouache and pencil (though this may be due to the materials and not the paper). Copic does bleed through. Pros- Due to the signature binding (which I love) the book does open flat after you break in the binding. Paper can take multiple layers of watercolor and gouache, for a wood pulp paper it handles the water mostly well, but layers dry faster than you think and can make paintings slightly blotchy.

Apparently I'm a very wet watercolor user. I haven't been able to find a SketchBook that doesn't buckle for my particular use. I'm also a fairly new watercolor painter, so it's good for me to have a little margin of error in the paper that I'm using. So far I'm very happy with this book and I will definitely be purchasing more in the future. I think I'll go with the hardbound book next time because the rounded corners on this one I have mixed feelings about,and I think I want to have the confidence to just thrown in a bag without worrying about being gentle with it. That said I really liked this book and I'll also probably order another soft cover one but maybe a smaller size and just put a rubber band around it. The painting in the photo isn't complete but I've already done probably four different washes for the sky for for the grass and two for the treed area I've also done about eight layers of paint on the red area and five on the yellow sign. I've probably done about eight layers on the gray shadowed areas also... The book came shrink-wrapped in plastic and the corners did get a little bumped but it's really certainly not the end of the world this paper is nice and heavy and I'm also including a picture of the back of the page so that you can see absolutely zero water or color has come through and the back side of the page with the red ladder painting is completely usable in fact it's a little bit bow from being painted on, and I just flipped the book over and closed it when the painting was dry and put a heavy weight on it overnight and it flattened out really nicely there's no buckling it all and if I keep my eyes closed I can only tell the difference between the feel of the sheet that I've painted on and the feel of a sheet that's not painted on because I can still feel where my masking fluid is on the one that I painted. also, this company, if you go to their website, I believe has a link where you can email them requesting samples of their paper for free.

This is a really great sketchbook for line and wash with watercolors. I have repurchased and will continue to do so again. I like that it’s a heavy weight and can handle watercolors, pen and ink and graphite. Erasing does not damage the paper.

100% cotton, opens and lays flat pretty easily, very nice quality at a very good price. Good amount of pages, same texture on both sides of the page. Buying my second one now!

I haven’t painted in it yet but it looks like the paper will suit my needs for watercolor and gouache practice. My complaint is that although it came wrapped in plastic the back cover has a dark line running across it that will it come off. I found it very weird. Looks like a factory defect. There were also scuffs on the front, probably from how it was stored. I could get over the scuffs but it’s disappointing for a sketchbook price to have defects that should have been caught with decent quality control.

Lovely sketchbook that opens flat so can easily sketch over two pages. Paper can handle a couple of wet washes but will benefit from being clipped down to stop excessive buckling.

pros: heavy paper smooth nice cover cons: no extras like ribbons, pockets etc. doesnt lie flat I would buy it anytime again and I think this will be my new go-to sketchbook!

takes watercolour quite well, even with multiple layers/washes

Esta todo correcto para dibujo.