Stillman & Birn is a relatively new company that has burst onto the art journaling scene with some incredibly high quality sketchbooks, and bloggers are starting to rave about them for sketching, mixed media, and ink washing. I first found out about them from Jamie Grossman’s blog with her glowing reviews, and after checking them out for myself, I knew these things were legit.
The brand is broken out into 5 series, Alpha (3:48), Beta (5:52), Gamma (7:15), Delta (8:33), and Epsilon (9:50) that are all blank paper. For easier reference in the video, just jump to the time marker next to the series name.
Here’s a chart to explain what they’re all about:
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Overview of the Stillman and Birn series lineup |
What I aim to do here is to explain the different series and how they all differ. It may seem complicated, but it’s really not. There are a couple of different paper grades, two different bindings, and two paper colors. All of these series are just a combination of these factors. I’ll go through each series and explain what’s up.
Alpha Series Key Points:
- 100lb/150gsm natural white paper
- Vellum surface (smooth, but with some resistance)
- Hardbound (62 sheets) or wirebound (50 sheets)
- Exact same as Gamma series (except Gamma has ivory paper)
- 180lb/270gsm natural white paper
- Rough surface (that’s what they call it, but it’s not really that rough)
- Wirebound only, 25 sheets
- Exact same as Delta series (only Delta has ivory paper)
- 100lb/150gsm ivory paper
- Vellum surface (smooth, but with some resistance)
- Hardbound (62 sheets) or wirebound (50 sheets)
- Exact same as Alpha series (except Alpha has white paper)
- 180lb/270gsm ivory paper
- Rough surface (that’s what they call it, but it’s not really that rough)
- Wirebound only, 25 sheets
- Exact same as Beta series (only Beta has white paper)
- 100lb/150gsm natural white paper
- Plate surface, smoothest paper in the Stillman & Birn line
- Hardbound (62 sheets) or wirebound (50 sheets)
The Paper
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All of the paper washes exceptionally, with no bleeding or feathering on any of the inks I tried. |
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I don’t know much about ink washing, but it sure is fun to try! |
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Minimal show-through on the Alpha, Gamma, and Epsilon, none at all on the Beta and Delta. |