Product Review: Stillman and Birn ZETA Paper

To see my paintings visit my website www.janblencowe.com

As many of you are aware Stillman & Birn makes what I think to be the best sketchbooks currently on the market today. The quality and variety of papers, and the variety of formats (size, spiral, hardbound) covers a broad range and offers just the right product for any sketchbook artist.

Stillman & Birn sent paper samples of their newest paper choice, Zeta, to a number of artist to try and review. I have not read any of those yet so that I would have no preconceived notions about the paper going in. But you can read Jamie Williams Grossman's review here, Jeanne Forsyth's review here, and a review from Liz & Borromini here.

Yesterday, I gave the new Zeta paper a whirl. If you're familiar with my sketches you know that I am a mixed media maven! One of my top requirements in a sketchbook is that the paper be able to handle all kinds of media, both wet and dry together in one sketch, or on one page spread.

The Zeta paper is a "cousin" to Stillman & Birn's Epsilon series paper.  Plate smooth, and really lovely to the touch. While the Epsilon is 90lbs, the Zeta is twice that, at a beefy 180 lbs. This for me is a big plus right out of the gate. I just have to have a heavy weight paper to work on. Something substantial so I don't have any worries about the paper buckling, the surface peeling,  getting rough or abraded, or any reservations about scrubbing, lifting or layering.

The Zeta paper, like all Stillman & Birn papers is sized inside and out, which means that wet media like watercolors and ink lay on top of the paper without sinking in too fast and reduces "staining" the paper meaning that you can lift color. Yay! But this is a little different than hot pressed watercolor paper, flat and graded washes may be a bit challenging on the other hand wet media brush strokes will remain, (as you can see especially in the lower left hand background in the sketch above), and that can be an exciting advantage adding, spontaneity, energy and movement to a piece, something I like.

So what exactly did I throw at this paper?? Well, pretty much everything but the kitchen sink......

• Uniball Vision Pen -black
• Sharpie Marker-black
• Daniel Smith Watercolors
• Winsor & Newton Gouache
• Plaid Folk Art Gold Acrylic Paint
• DecoColor Opaque Paint Marker - white
• Uniball Gold Gel Pen
• Blue Painters Tape

I worked on this sketch for about 1.5 hours. There are a LOT of layers and a lot of wet media used, that's important to know because I watched closely to see if the paper would buckle when wet.  It did, but only slightly, and from it's wettest point when I could see the buckling it dried and flattened to only a slight wave in about 15 min. Today the paper has just a slight curve but if I put it under a book I'm confident that it will flatten out completely. That means that bound in a sketchbook the paper once dry will flatten out beautifully once the book is closed.

Pen on Zeta

I started this sketch using a UniBall Vision Pen, then later on switched to Sharpie and added bling with the gold gel pen. I am happy to report two things that made me very happy...

• the pen never missed or skipped
• the ink dried very fast on the surface and there was no smudging

A third quality I noticed is neither a pro or con just something to be aware of is that multiple pen lines close together, or in cross hatch pattern, could get very dark very fast


Paint on Zeta

Three kinds of paint were used in this sketch, watercolor, gouache and acrylic

• watercolors were very clear and bright and were able to be lifted

• the gouache is a perfect match for this paper being a little thicker and less watery than watercolor and really appreciates the sizing so it can sit on the surface in all it's glorious velvety, opaque, matte beauty

• acrylic is a pretty friendly medium overall and is pretty much able to adhere to any surface, so this was more a question of whether the paper could handle it, and I found no problems using it

Painters Tape on Zeta

One of the things I like to do in my sketchbooks is tape off a margin around the edge or tape of a rectangle or square to work in. Here's what happened...

• blue painters tape pulled up the surface of the paper leaving it " fuzzy" and abraded

Next time I will try using drafting tape (which is what usually I carry in my sketch kit) which is less sticky, and should be gentler on the paper.

Next I'm going to test my vast marker collection on Zeta, so stay tuned!

Zoo Sketches

To see my paintings visit my website www.janblencowe.com

 Sketching at the zoo is very challenging! Some of these are from on the spot observation, others developed and fleshed out from photos I took. I wish there was a zoo close to home so I could go frequently and become adept enough to capture the animals quickly and accurately while observing them.

The lions are done with 2B pencil and gouache, in a Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook.

The Baboons were very entertaining to watch especially the very young one, who persisted in pestering his elders even after getting a scolding. 2B pencil and gouache, in a Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook.

Wish I could have gotten the Bactrain Camels to turn around, but they were at the hay baskets munching the afternoon away. 2B pencil and gouache, in a Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook.

 This part of the zoo was fascinating. It's called the Deer Forest and a herd of 90 Fallow Deer roam free as you walk along the paths. The deer will come to you to eat if you buy corn from the little dispensers, they will follow you and walk freely in and out of groups of people. Here you see a chocolate variety, and a spotted. There is also a white coated variation. Watercolor, 2B pencil and gouache, in a Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook.

This was a spur of the moment visit on our way home from my daughter's college in Beverly, MA and I would have missed the opportunity to enjoy these beautiful animals if I didn't always keep at least one sketching kit in the car at all times!

The Foodie Sketchbook

To see my paintings visit my website www.janblencowe.com

 Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook, Uni-ball Vision pen, Daniel Smith Watercolors, Golden Fluid Acrylics and W&N Gouache.

This piece is a veritable water-media extravaganza! I was set on giving the Alpha a thorough work out to see how well the paper stood up to multiple wet media and it was wonderful! What a joy to work on, no worrying about wrinkling, bleeding through or the surface of the paper becoming mushy or abraded.

So here we have a Luna Di Luna bottle, a wine I recently bought (for the beautiful color of the bottle and the nice label design LOL) and discovered it's also a really nice wine, a Chardonnay/Pinot Greigo blend.

Same S&B Alpha sketchbook with Uni-ball Vision Pen, DS watercolors, and a bit of W&N Gouache.

The point of this sketchbook is food, with its interesting textures and wonderful colors and it's also a celebration of the interesting and fun places we meet with others to share a meal. Even though we sometimes eat left overs alone in our own kitchen food is still an ordinary blessing we give thanks for each day.

S&B Alpha, pencil and DS watercolors.

We've had such wonderful, unseasonably warm March weather last week end my daughter and I drove up to an orchard about 45 min. north of us and got lunch and sat out side on their picnic benches to share our first al fresco lunch of the year. We also brought home and incredibly delicious maple walnut apple pie for the rest of the family.

S&B Alpha, Uni-ball Vision pen, DS watercolors.

Savvy Tea Shop is a favorite place for my daughter and I. After bringing four of her pastel paintings to a review for a possible scholarship we waited at the tea shop enjoying lunch and the charming atmosphere.

Sketching at Salmagundi Club, NYC

To see my paintings visit my website www.janblencowe.com

Antique books from the Salmagundi Club Library. You may recognize the sketch of Rembrandt's Road to Emmaus,  in the open book. Pentalic Nature Sketch, 8.5 x 11, 130lb. 25% cotton paper,  various markers including Vision Uni-ball, Copic, Bic Mark-It, Prismacolor, Utrecht Design Markers.

A few months back I joined the Salmagundi Club Library Sketching Group, a newly formed group in an old organization.

Founded in 1871, the Salmagundi Club is one of the oldest art organizations in the United States. Housed in an historic brownstone mansion in Greenwich Village, New York City, its members have included important American artists such as Thomas Moran, William Merritt Chase, Louis Comfort Tiffany, N.C. Wyeth and Childe Hassam.

 Pentalic Nature Sketch, 8.5 x 11, 130lb. 25% cotton paper, Sepia, Caran d'Arche Supracolor II Soft pencil

Historic palettes on the walls in Salmagundi Club library, including Ralph Blakelock's, Ernest Lawson's, one of The Eight of the Ash Can School, Carl Brenner, William Henry Lippingcott 


The Salmagundi Club originated in 1871 as a sketch class in Johnathan Scott Hartley's studio and purchased this mid-nineteenth century brownstone house in 1917 as its second home.

Originally formed as the Salmagundi Sketch Club in 1871, the Club adopted its present name a hundred years ago after Washington Irving published his potpourri of wit and wisdom called "The Salmagundi Papers". The name also serves as the club dining room's famous "Salmagundi Stew".

Today, the club  is reviving the sketch class that began over 140 years ago.

Bust of Thomas Moran, Pentalic Nature Sketch, 8.5 x 11, 130lb. 25% cotton paper,Derwent, burnt sienna, watercolor pencil.

 Pentalic Nature Sketch, 8.5 x 11, 130lb. 25% cotton paper, 2b graphite pencil

This charming fellow sits atop the mantle in the library and I'm beginning to think of him as the group's mascot!

Salmagundi Club Library

New Sketches: Late Afternoon Clouds

To see my paintings visit my website www.janblencowe.com

Here's a couple more from yesterday. Still working in the Stillman & Birn Beta series sketchbook and using markers: Copic, Utrecht Design, Bic Mark-It, and Uni-ball vision pen.

 Markers are a really fun medium. They're quick, can be layered, blended with a colorless blender, and they require you to simplify, a good skill to hone for plein air painting.

New Stillman and Birn Sketchbook

To see my paintings visit my website www.janblencowe.com

Stillman & Birn have developed a new line of hardcover sketchbooks, so naturally I had to get one! This is their Beta series book, with extra heavy 180 lb. natural white paper and a rough surface. This is the 7 x 10 in. 25 page book. Sketch done with Bic Mark-It Markers and a Uni-ball Vision pen.

 I really, really like working on heavy paper, the heavier the better. Stillman & Birn says that this paper has enhanced wet strength and is suitable for mixed media. I like it because it takes markers and while the marker does show through the other side of the paper it does not bleed through to the next page. Sketch done with Bic Mark-It Markers and a Uni-ball Vision pen.

 This sketch was done with a Uni-ball Vision pen and Daniel Smith watercolors. I wanted to see how the watercolors did on this paper. It's certainly a good paper for watercolors, strong, little to no buckling as the paper gets wet, but I did find the paper slightly less absorbent than the 130 lb. paper in my Pentallic Nature Sketch sketchbook. So that answered my question of which sketchbook to use for watercolor and which for markers. But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one for watercolors, it's very good for that, it's just that I'm used to the way the Nature Sketch paper performs and I'll stay with that for convenience.