Stillman & Birn Alpha Sketchbook Review

[@scotexican69]

I would like to say that these stillman and bern sketchbooks take gouache paint like a champ, very little warping even with really heavy layers

[@chainsawkitten3321]

I love this paper for graphite, water soluble graphite, sketching pencils, colored pencils. I think the Alpha series is recommended for light wash - not full-on watercolor painting. But, if you use the beta, which IS recommended for WC, you only get 50 pages, as the paper is much thicker.

[@teohyc]

+ChainsawKitten Yes. However, only the Alpha series has the landscape format.

[@kathyhackney7950]

I know this was six years ago but I personally prefer a lighter weight paper for my watercolor sketchbooks. Feels way less precious

[@FILIPP0100]

Thank you so much for answering ALL my questions. I wished I had seen your review before I wasted time on the phone to an art suppliers who couldn't answer the questions which you did very well! So a big thanks :) also your work is excellent and very inspiring.

[@teohyc]

Thanks 😄

[@Cookiena]

Oh my! The color really pops! 😍 Your drawings are amazing!

[@teohyc]

TheDragonLight65 Thanks!

[@DavidLorellHoskins]

The Beta version would be better for watercolor, but there are less than half the amount of sheets/pages of the Alpha.

[@morganwitthoft2321]

Enjoyable review and beautiful drawings

[@Janartable]

Honestly, you make any sketchbook look good. I just love your style. But..thank you for the review!!

[@aaronying4989]

I really like your videos and are really helpful. I sometimes have a hard time finding notebooks and sketchbooks that are suitable that I use.

[@Angela-jy8um]

Great review! Thanks! I'm going on a trip and taking the soft cover version with me.

[@doodlenomics3656]

Thanks for your very honest reviews Teoh! Love your blog and videos! :)

[@thebooksofmylife]

I just recently bought two alpha sketchbooks - and am going to use them very soon 😄 very informative review and thank you for the information on warping with watercolour - now I will know to be careful of accidental puddles with heavier washes 😊

[@mv11000]

Thank you Teoh, that was very helpful! Could you tell me which water colors you are using @ 2:50 and 2:54? Thanks a lot!

[@Sweetiepie1616]

Thanks for your review Teoh! I would love to see what you think of the new softcover landscape sketchbooks Sillman & Bern are offering within their Beta series as well as in all of their other series.

[@teohyc]

+Emily Hutnik I have reviewed the softcover sketchbooks a few weeks ago at kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqPVeZyZgpyGnM0

[@Sweetiepie1616]

Teoh Yi Chie Oh thank you! I must have missed it, I'll go watch it right now :)

[@Slotzzzz]

Teoh.. thanks for the review, you helped me make a informed decision, I'll be buying some of those.. bye'eeee..

[@ivylan12]

Would you recommend this sketchbook for coloured pencils? ☺

[@teohyc]

Yes, works fine with coloured pencils

[@EirromNat]

I was just wondering, have you ever tried the Crescent Rendr Sketchbook?

[@teohyc]

+artgapelove I've not heard of that sketchbook

[@wrestlejmac]

Nice to see your sketches of Hong Kong !

[@PieceFreak]

First of all,this is a very good review, just like all the others you do! But I still cant find the right one for me.My question is if I can draw with simple black fineliners (Uni Pin pigment ink) on this paper without having the ink feathering? I tried many books and wanted to find one with thicker paper, but they always feather or bleed.... I would greatly appreciate an answer.

[@teohyc]

+PieceFreak You can try Stillman & Birn's Epsilon sketchbook. I'm not sure about Uni Pin but it works with my Copic Fine liner. See my review at www.parkablogs.com/content/review-stillman-birn-epsilon-series-sketchbook

[@Mlle_Bleue]

This is the first video I watched from you about a year and a half ago!

[@taylorMFilms]

Hi. I was wondering what pen you used for the linework these watercolours ?

[@teohyc]

+taylorMFilms Mostly with the Pelikan M200. Here's my review www.parkablogs.com/picture/review-pelikan-m200-fountain-pen

[@taylorMFilms]

+Teoh Yi Chie thanks very much!

[@ParraParraBoiBoi]

Hey Teoh! Just wanted your advice on which series is better for getting comic book sketch commissions. The Beta or Zeta series? thanks, Chuck

[@teohyc]

+Chuck R Beta is white paper with coldpress texture. Zeta is smooth texture that's not good for watercolour. Shouldn't you use loose sheets for commissioned artworks?

[@ParraParraBoiBoi]

+Teoh Yi Chie I like to keep some commissions in a book. For example having a book dedicated for one character and it looks better as a collection. I like it that they are both 270 gsm but I think you are right, the Beta would be better, most comic artists use copic markers and some still use inks.

[@teohyc]

+Chuck R Even at 270gsm, if you use Copic markers, there will be slight bleed through to the other side.

[@ParraParraBoiBoi]

Ah damns, I was trying to avoid that. Would you suggest a sketchbook that will avoid or minimize that?

[@teohyc]

+Chuck R It will not exactly bleed through, but you will definitely some faint impression of markers from the other page. One way is to buy a bigger sketchbook draw on single pages, leaving a blank page. If you're not drawing double page spread, it's not going to be a problem. Most sketchbooks top out at 300gsm and even so you'll still see slight marker marks. I don't know of any other sketchbooks with thicker paper.

[@VicVlaIr]

You are write wery great. How long are you write?

[@gunsmokeandghouls]

Have you tried markers on this paper?

[@teohyc]

Alcohol markers will bleed through

[@rieekeerey5902]

How come you are not using Instagram? You have so many amazing sketches, you could share them there. :))

[@zoeperez2889]

I think an Instagram from him would be awesome, as well. :-)

[@teohyc]

Rieekee Rey Currently I post on my blog, Facebook, Google+ and Flickr. There are also people who suggest Tumblr. Having too many social media sites is difficult for me to keep up.

[@rieekeerey5902]

I see. How about dropping Flickr and using Instagram instead? :D You could reach a lot more people with Instagram (300 million users), Flickr "just" has 92 million users :)

[@teohyc]

Rieekee Rey That's interesting. I didn't know that.

[@rieekeerey5902]

I googled it :), From my experience with Instagram I was surprised how easy it is to get noticed. And i think it's the perfect place for artists to share their work. I could spend hours to look at all those pretty pictures :)).

[@towardsthelight4919]

Hi Teoh I was wondering if they have changed their paper quality? I brought one today and was disappointed.... using it with watercolour I don’t mind the warping so much but I found the watercolour sits on top doesn’t move so well it’s hard to get gradations . It said medium grain but it’s quite smooth . Ok for ink and pen . Any tips less water paint doesn’t move at all if I add a bit more everything becomes undefined hard to explain any tips ? Thank you in advance 🙏

[@teohyc]

It’s not watercolour paper so using watercolour techniques is going to be challenging. Gradations, colour blending is difficult. Colours will not move much. That’s just the way it is. Alpha paper is thin so it will warp. They have thicker paper which is more durable, and a bit easily to push the colours around, manually

[@towardsthelight4919]

Teoh Yi Chie thank you your watercolour looks good though... or is it gouache?

[@teohyc]

@@towardsthelight4919 It's watercolour. If you notice, I don't do a lot of gradation or colour blends. Also the edges are mostly hard/sharp.

[@EirromNat]

Hi Teoh! What kind of fixatives do you use for the colour pencils?

[@teohyc]

+artgapelove I don't think I used any coloured pencils in this sketchbook. But for fixative, I used the Daler Rowney Perfix Colourless Fixative.

[@wendym645]

Hi Teoh, I just bought an A5 Alpha Sketchbook. And when I test the paper, I found that the Noodler's bullet proof ink is not waterproof on this paper. Do you have the same problem? What kind of ink do you use in this sketchbook?

[@teohyc]

It's difficult to troubleshoot. Some people say it's the ink that is not waterproof. Sometimes it is the paper.

[@wendym645]

@@teohycThanks! I'm now using the Platinum Carbon Ink, and it performs much better than Noodler's. It will still be dissolved a little bit, but it cannot be seen if you'er not taking really close look at it.

[@EirromNat]

Hi Teoh, where do you buy those Stillman & Birn sketchbooks?

[@teohyc]

EirromNat I bought them on Amazon. It can be bought at various places only, but most from America.

[@denap.2811]

I love your videos! Can you explain what website you are mentioning when you say, "This is Teoh from..." It sounds like pacherblocks.com because it is so fast.

[@teohyc]

That's just my website www.parkablogs.com/

[@VicVlaIr]

10 or big 10 ago you started?

[@peacepeanut7556]

How do these handle alcohol markers?

[@teohyc]

+Zoey Strickland Alcohol markers or any sort of markers will bleed through. The paper's only 150gsm, not very thick.

[@peacepeanut7556]

+Teoh Yi Chie okay, thank you for the reply.

[@dishadhouliyan5190]

alchohol markers bleed even on very thick paper...

[@nopejoeandangie]

Hey man, which Alpha sketchbook (soft cover) would be best for a travel sketchbook? I think someone said 8.5 x 5.5 or 5.5 x 8.5 but for travel, what's the best? And how many pages do they have? I've seen 48 sheets or 96 pages but I'm not sure what that means exactly. stillmanandbirn.com/products_alpha_softcover.php

[@teohyc]

One sheet has two pages so 48 sheets has 96 pages. They are the same. Alpha has more pages because the paper is thinner and good for light washes. If you want to use heavy washes, go for Gamma sketchbook with less pages but thicker paper. See my reviews www.parkablogs.com/tags/stillman-and-birn

[@nopejoeandangie]

@@teohyc Awesome, thanks for your help