Stillman & Birn Beta Series Softcover Sketchbook, 3.5" x 5.5", 270 GSM (Extra Heavyweight), White Paper, Cold Press Surface

It’s great! I’ve been looking for a white papered sketchbook and one that’s slim, it’s definitely a bit pricey for me but honestly it’s worth the price. It’s great for spray painting or ink pieces.

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.

Holds up to a lot. More of a sketchbook than for watercolor but will hold up to light watercolor use. Super slick paper. Still very nice though. Would buy again.

I don't love the paper. It doesn't really seem to matter which series you buy from Stillman. None of the papers are very absorbent and the texture is very smooth for a cold pressed. It works well enough for a little travel sketchbook. I will continue looking for a better one in this size. It does lay flat.

Okay, so I have seen a lot of reviews about this sketchbook on YouTube, the last one was jesskarp's and I really wanted to try it out. And oh boy, this sketchbook is amazing! I just love it! The paper is nice and thick, it holds acrylics, aquarelles, pencils and ink nicely. I use a ton of water, during the process the edge of the paper wraps a bit, but it goes smooth once its dried. Its design is nice and simple, totally giftable. I haven't tried it for traveling yet, but I think it could work. The only downside of this sketchbook for me is that it could be a bit bigger like the hardbound version. But anyway, Stillman&Birn, thank you for this great sketchbook! 💜

The paper has a nice tooth and I like the color. I really like working with it. It’s pleasant to work with especially for gouache and a nice pencil.

I haven’t used this particular one as yet but have painted in many Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbooks so I know and trust the paper and the quality of the binding. I’m taking the S&B Beta 7.5” sq journal with me on vacation and it was a toss up as to which 3.5”x5.5” journal to take - this Beta or the Tan Toned Nova. Since I had already broken in the Nova and it is different, it is the one going along, but this small Beta is certainly a winner and will get plenty of painting time in at a later date.

Great watercolor sketchbook!!! Love the size and the texture. Have not had the problem with pages falling out. I can layer different colors really well on this paper and I love it. This is the tiniest bit of warping in the paper when it is saturated but it's more like the whole page bows, so if you put a binder clip on it this is eliminated