Stillman & Birn Beta Series Wirebound Sketchbook, 6" x 8", 270 gsm (Extra Heavyweight), White Paper, Cold Press Surface

Really nice quality paper. Smooth, nice cover - sturdy. Takes water and washes well. Buckles a little but you can smooth it out. Hard to find the weight and size in person with spiral bound. I will buy two the next time.

i like to work with mixed media, and this sketchbook holds up well using india ink in generous amounts. the spiral binding and hard covers make it convenient for sketching on the go. i think this may be my new go-to, and will repurchase when i fill all the pages.

I got this book for my gouache studies and heard a lot of great things about this brand. It came neatly wrapped, the hard cover feels durable and looks good, and the page didn't buckle when I put a fair bit of water on it. The pages didn't stubble up either after a lot of scrubbing. Only thing I'm worried about is running out of pages.

I like the weight of the paper. It works well for plein aire watercolor painting. The spiral binding allows it to fold back completely out of the way as well as to protect your dry paintings. Don't scrub though! It won't take harsh treatment well.

I've tried several sketchbooks in the past year of ink and wash watercolor sketching, and this is my favorite one. The size is small enough to fit in just like any book, and the paper is excellent! I have used both the Beta and Zeta - they're both ideal for watercolor, even multiple glazes. They're only slightly different. The Zeta is listed as smoother and the Beta as rougher, but the difference is very slight. I do prefer the Beta between them, but even it is not all that rough.

Awesome quality paper and I love the square shape for a change of pace sometimes. Maybe not perfect for all watercolor techniques but in this book you wouldn't be doing your best work anyway most likely. The 180lb paper holds a ton & I mean a ton of water before even buckling just the slightest. I often use this for inking, colored pencil, water color pencils, inktense pencils etc. Note - Alcohol markers do bleed thru. Have not yet tried but I would also think this would work well with soft and oil pastels. I also love how you can use both sides of the paper, there is a slight texture difference but it doesn't look like the back of a watercolor paper if you know what I mean, just a subtle difference. I especially love the gradation and texture in the paint it although that may have something to do with the actual paints themselves. You can especially see what I mean on the leaves of the pink flower in the photos I've attached. For all 3 examples I used Mission Gold watercolors if anyone is curious. I'm about halfway thru the book and find myself wanting to hoard the rest. :) I am very curious what the Zeta series is like and how it differs?Disclaimer - all three paintings attached where rendered off of youtube tutorials, which I always love doing to learn new techniques.

I got this book after reading reviewing on a social media site (mistake) that indicated it was great for watercolor. It's not... paper is very smooth and water dries too quickly to move paints around and colors look flat.. I will continue using it to sketch with but if you are looking for a travel watercolor book, keep looking and let me know what you find! I am used to Arches paper and maybe am just spoiled by Arches - if only they carried a travel book!

This now book is sturdy and holds up really well to my abuse. It’sa working sketch book for my business and gets used a lot. Love the thick paper!