Stillman and Birn Nova Trio Sketchbook Review

Immature Bald Eagle, gouache on gray paper of a Stillman & Birn Nova Trio Sketchbook

(Click title if full review does not appear.)
If you love working on different colored toned papers, this sketchbook is for you! I usually carry around a selection of paper colors if I'm working out on location in gouache. Stillman and Birn came out with this Nova Trio sketchbook not too long ago. It contains gray, tan, and black papers within the same book. It doesn't get more convenient than this in a sketchbook with heavy weight paper! I've been wanting one for ages, having worked a lot in one of their Nova Gray books. I was in the independent Jerrys store in West Hartford last week, and admired this 7 1/2" square version.  I treated myself to that and a few other things I've been wanting to test drive.

Last Friday, I had an immature Bald Eagle pay me a visit during lunchtime! Fortunately, my trusty Nikon P900 was nearby, so I snapped a bunch of photos of him from the kitchen window, and did the sketch above from my reference images in gouache on gray paper. If gouache is your thing, these books are hard to beat. There are many papers that I prefer to size in some way before working in gouache, but I never feel that's really necessary with the Stillman and Birn books, so I can dive right in.

Sumi ink (soluble) with a dip pen, and Dr. Ph Martin Bombay India inks applied with a brush (Bright Red, White)

While at Jerrys, I picked up a couple of bottles of the Dr. Ph Martin Bombay India ink. I've been playing with sketching in black, white and red lately, so I got Bright Red and White. I thought the Sumi ink I have is waterproof, but it's not. I did the ink sketch below with the Sumi ink and a dip pen, then added the red ink with a brush. I wanted my black ink lines to stay put, so I tried to be careful not to manipulate the red ink too much. I found it useful in some of the shadow areas to let the black mingle more. I guess I'll have to go on a search and rescue mission to find my black India ink, which is hiding somewhere in the studio. Colors sit up so nicely on top of this paper. It's very different from working on an absorbent surface and may take a bit of getting used to. I'm generally not doing much layered work in my sketchbooks, so I like having the quick effect of the paint on the surface. I didn't think the ink would be vibrant enough, but since it sits on the surface of this paper so well, it surprised me! These Bombay inks by Dr. Ph Martin are truly waterproof too.

Here's a little pic with my setup:

At the Wadsworth Antheneum, there was a wonderful exhibit of Italian Master Drawings. I was especially intrigued by one that was sketched with red chalk, then finished with pen and ink. I wanted to play with that idea on toned paper. I bought a bouquet of flowers, and turned to the tan section of the book. Starting with a Sanguine Conte Pastel Pencil, I sketched some of the flowers, then worked with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, which I'd filled with Caran d'Ache Grand Canyon ink. I also threw in a bit of Viarco Art Graf Sepia, and just a few dark accents with Platinum Carbon Black ink. The white is from a Kuretake White Brush Pen.

I felt like the flowers needed more separation from the background, so I pulled out my gouache and negative-painted the background, mixing to a raw umber to keep the color range analogous. The paper handled all of this perfectly. The texture is smooth enough for pen and ink, has enough tooth to grab the pastel pencil, and allows the gouache to sit on top.

Pastel pencil, ink, soluble sepia pigment, gouache on S&B tan

Of course I had to try the black paper too! The flowers from my bouquet were still alive, so I took advantage of that, painting with a little gouache travel set I've made up with a limited palette --- just red, magenta, yellow, blue, white, and neutral grays.

Flowers in gouache on S&B Black

If you're using gouache on this black paper, you'll probably want to break out your most opaque colors. If the paper had been more absorbent, it would have taken many layers to do this sketch using the gouache I chose. In this case, the paper really bailed me out. Next time, I'll pull out my other palette, which contains gouache colors that are more opaque. I've been doing quite a bit of painting and sketching on black lately, so I'm really going to enjoy the black paper in this book!

I give this sketchbook very high marks. It's lightweight and compact enough to fit in a sketch bag, yet has a 15" spread for sketching landscapes across the open book pages. It opens completely flat, accepts all media easily, and the paper doesn't buckle much. Often, I prefer to work on loose sheets, but when I want to work in a bound book, this one will continue to be a great option for me. In fact, it just might be addictive, so if you'll excuse me........

Below are Amazon Affiliate Links, which provide a small commission to me should you decide to purchase this product, at no additional cost to you: