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

great price on this portable watercolor art book. Fits perfectly in my small art backpack along with my other art supplies. The paper can handle a few layers before it begins to shred. Any lifting of color needs to be done before the paint dries completely and you can paint on both sides of the pages. I have purchased this art book many times and will continue to do so. Great job Stillman & Birn. 👍

I love this journal. I have been wanting to get into the habit of using a sketbook journal for abstract art and doodle. I have been able to use mix media and not damage the paper. Heavy body. Great size. Amazing inspiration with this size sketchbook.

Good paper

The book is a good size for traveling with and generally works well for mixed media artworks. Turns out I was putting too much water on the paper, which caused it to peel. Don’t oversaturate! I enjoy this journal.

This product is fantastic for watercolor and mixed media. I took this all over Costa Rica for watercolor/travel journaling. It is the perfect size, very thick paper, no bleed through, and a decent price.

I've always heard, through other artists, that Stillman & Birn sketchbooks were some of the best; maybe at one time they were. I bought this particular one specifically for a 30 day watercolor sketch challenge; the Beta is supposed to be able to handle watercolor and other wet media. I'm quite disappointed in the quality of the paper and in the binding too. Once you attempt to open it flat, things start loosening and I think that it might completely fail before the 30 watercolor sketches are done. It's horrible at handling wet media, curling and rippling terribly! You cannot soften an edge or pick up a bit of paint along an edge where it shouldn't be; the paper simply starts pilling and peeling. This has been such a pain to work in that I've actually started doing my sketches in another sketchbook-the old reliable brand that I have used for years, which has great quality paper and handles watercolor perfectly!

I love their sketchbooks, and the Beta paper is perfect for adding watercolour washes. Smooth enough to draw detailed pen sketches as well. The softcover version is slightly smaller than the similar hardback landscape S&B books and that is good, it's a size I like. One of my favourite sketchbooks now.

The media could not be loaded. Stillman & Birn products are excellent but a supplier thought he could sell a used sketchbook as new. Someone thought nobody would notice their scam! As the video shows, a few pages were cut from the sketchbook, and some kind of note at the top of the cover had been inked out with a sharpie. These sketch books always come shrink wrapped, but this one did not. It was obviously a return, and the seller re-sent it to me, without checking the inside to determine if it was complete.