Introducing the New/Old Stillman & Birn!
Monday, December 20th, 2010Stillman & Birn Launches New Line of Premium Sketchbooks
Introducing Stillman & Birn, a new line of premium sketchbooks based a simple premise: When it comes to sketchbooks, paper matters! These new sketchbooks are made with high performance archival papers and are available in both hardbound and wirebound formats.
The Stillman & Birn sketchbook program is a unique system, offering the artist a choice of paper weights, shades and surfaces suitable for both dry and wet media.
Shades
• Natural White
• Ivory
Weights
• Heavy Weight (100 lb. – 150 gsm)
• Extra Heavy Weight (180 lb. – 270 gsm)
Surfaces
• Vellum – distinctive tooth, suitable for all dry media and will accept light washes (paper has both internal and surface sizing)
• Rough – substantial tooth & enhanced wet and tear strength suitable for multi-media renderings
• Plate – finely calendered, suitable for line drawings with pen and ink without feathering
Bound in the United States, Stillman & Birn sketchbooks are crafted with archival-grade drawing paper that is neutral pH, lignin and chloride free and is milled from pulp with an alpha cellulose content that exceeds 87%.
Each grade of paper has superb erasure characteristics, compatible with precision erasing techniques. Both the hardbound and wirebound editions are made with extra heavy weight binders board that is super tough and resistant to warpage.
There are five series in the Stillman & Birn sketchbook program:
Alpha Series
Heavy Weight – Vellum Surface – Natural White
100 lb. – 150 gsm
Hardbound and Wirebound
Beta Series
Extra Heavy Weight – Rough Surface – Natural White
180 lb. – 270 gsm
Wirebound only
Gamma Series
Heavy Weight – Vellum Surface – Ivory
100 lb. – 150 gsm
Hardbound and Wirebound
Delta Series
Extra Heavy Weight – Rough Surface – Ivory
180 lb. – 270 gsm
Wirebound only
Epsilon Series
Heavy Weight – Plate Surface – Natural White
100 lb. – 150 gsm
Hardbound and Wirebound
The Stillman & Birn sketchbook concept embraces the importance which the sketchbook has had throughout art history. Leonardo da Vinci treasured his sketchbooks…so has every artist from Michelangelo to Picasso and beyond. Why is the sketchbook so important? Because in the studio as well as in the field, the sketchbook is the artist’s companion, a platform for invention, recording ideas and documenting the evolution of a work of art from its earliest conception to its final rendering. In this way the sketchbook is a permanent record of the artist’s thinking.
Ask any group of artists what they do with their filled sketchbooks. Few will say that they dispose of them. On the contrary, just like Michelangelo, today’s artists maintain a life-long connection to them. The Stillman & Birn sketchbook program recognizes the special relationship artists have with their sketchbooks and aspires to offer a premium product range that is worthy of that relationship.
Stillman & Birn is a brand associated with an earlier era of the art materials industry in the United States. The original company was founded in 1958 by Philip Birn (1911 – 2004). Birn was a highly admired Viennese bookbinder, who brought his old world craftsmanship to a small plant in the SoHo section of Manhattan. SoHo is now filled with trendy shops, restaurants and residential lofts. But in the 1950’s SoHo was a center of light industry. From his plant at 270 Lafayette Street, Philip Birn pioneered the concept of the black hardbound sketchbook, which he marketed throughout North America, Europe and Australia. The new Stillman & Birn organization is led by Birn’s nephew, Michael Kalman and his partner Oscar Hernandez, both formerly with Cachet and both with many years of expertise in sketchbook manufacturing.
Shipping January, 2011
For further information contact Michael Kalman, 201-871-6788, mkalman@stillmanandbirn.com