Is the $120 Holbein Artists Watercolor Palm Box set worth it?

I'm trying out the Holbein watercolor palm box set of 12 half pans--is it awesome or just overpriced?

Here are the supplies used in this video:
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These are some other (more affordable) QUALITY artist grade watercolor pan sets I can recommend:
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[AimeeFleck]

I am the odd duck, I like a plastic box.I paint at the beach often and the metal boxes always get rusty. So far my fave set up is the Portable Painter. I use Daniel Smith paints and the PP comes empty so you add whatever you like.

[SharonCullenArt]

Emily, take all of your pans out of you Schminke tin, and squeeze the metal bars closer together. Then reinsert your half pans by pushing one side in and then snapping down the other side. Those are adjustable. If they loosen over time just take them out squeeze the bars and pop in the pans. Hope this makes sense.

[renmuffett]

Hi Emily. I have the list of Artist Steve Hanks color pigment choices. Ivory Black (PBk9) is not as opaque as other blacks and mixes well with other pigments. In fact many paint colors are made with it. Did you know that one of the pigments Steve Hanks never went without on his palette is W&N Ivory Black? Pigment PBk9, a warm black. Like other carbon blacks, it is very lightfast, and semitransparent. It mutes down colors like, pinks and corals so beautifully! If you look at the pigments used to make your Daniel Smith Indigo, you will notice it is made with a Black pigment in it. PBk6, Lamp Black & a blue. Lamp black PBk6 is a very lightfast, very opaque, heavily staining black pigment, soot from lamp burned petroleum, gas or wax. It is a cool black. I love Schmincke Paynes Gray Bluish. Its also made with a black and blue pigment. Sepia and Van Dike brown are usually made with black pigments also. I'm a watercolor portrait artist painting mostly infants, in super realism. Retired. ;-)

[jillremmen]

Mixing black and yellow make gorgeous greens…so I tend to welcome black pans in these sets. 😊

[dawn]

I have this set. I added Holbein’s Payne’s Grey and Ultramarine Deep from tubes I have. Plus a 1/2 pan of white gouache. That balanced this set out. Happy to have had the extra space. You can use the removable lid for water.

[davidmolloy]

At that price it should make your tea and clean the yard as well! Thanks Emily.x

[Sevvin]

I think they had this in the box to make it look like a bento box. It signifies part of japanese culture, the traveling with a bento box. Box is cute though. 😍

[dawn]

The high price is for the US market. My daughter bought the 18 pan set with a blue hinged lid for only $65. She was in Japan so could buy at Japanese prices! I have the 24 pan set too but did not pay a high price. Holbein has only approved venders in the US . One Japanese EBay seller told me he had tp pull his pan sets coz Ebay was not an approved vender. However, you can find used sets from time to time on EBay and these venders are in the US.

[BrianDavis]

Beautiful painting! I got the largest palm box with 36 colors and I absolutely Love it, although I think it’s too large for plein air. If you’re looking for a great plein air palette at a more affordable price I’d go with the travel set from QoR. It’s compact but very usable and has a great selection of colors for just about anything you could think of to paint.

[christinebravomom]

The price is INSANE. For 1/3 the price, you can get three times as much Holbein paint in tubes. The box looks like it's more trouble than it's worth, even if it was FREE. Plus, I hate plastic palettes.

[LCLand]

I have the larger palm box and it sits on my desk full time. I have more than 20 high end palettes I switch out depending on what I’m painting. but I bought this to have them as tests to see if I want to buy tubes of them when it runs out. There are many that are my favorites. Vermilion is one. Leaf green. I love this palette it’s a staple when I paint. When it runs out I won’t get another but I Will buy some of the tubes. If you want to test out Holbein and have a large assortment of colors it’s nice to splurge on this IMO

[allanmorrissey]

I love my 12 four pan da Vinci set. It’s metal box and has great colors, most single pigment, and transparent.

[nellkrams]

Great review!! You are so right…it’s really pricy for what you get!! Your plein air painting…so beautiful!! The scenery is just awesome. You are so fortunate to have this fantastic view to paint. I’m in Delaware….still looking for some great views… lol. Always looking forward to watching and learning from your tutorials. Thank you!!

[Saahrish]

Beautiful landscape painting!

Emily, can you do a video on your top picks from brands you recommend? Its hard picking colors when you want to upgrade to professional paints. One way to go is to drive inspiration from your favourite artists’ palette. I do always read the entire description of every video to know the colors you have used but would love to know your top picks.

[ArtsiRosi]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this but you can hang the palettes off the sides of the Holbein palette. :-) (also, loved to see one of my sketchbooks in use! Let me know when you need a re-up!)

[jperala]

This set sells for 8140 yen (including. tax) in Japan. That’s about $54 (USD) at March 2024 exchange rate.

[morrisonwatercolors]

Watercolors are so fun. This box set is unique looking but it doesn’t seem worth it for the price. Wish Holbein would go back to selling their 1000 and 500 palettes that have been discontinued. Nice review by the way! 🎨🖌

[timdifiore]

What a beautiful painting, Emily! Had no idea your part of the US was so stunning! Will have to visit. This was my very first set of watercolors-- in the red box. The red box is beautiful, but a total pain! Ridiculously difficult to open, and I could never figure out how to close it so that the top didn't slip off. That said, I LOVE the paints. I've tried Sennelier, Daniel Smith, WN, and Derwent. But I always come back to Holbein as my signature paints. There's something about them - their transparency, and ease of lifting. I'm not particularly in love with granulation, so that's another reason I prefer Holbein. So, I just removed the half pans from the red, plastic box, and placed them into another, similarly sized tin (with a thumb hoop), and they are great! Holbein is much better on an enamel palette, but great on porcelain-- very noticeable difference - they seem dead on plastic. I think I also stuck magnetic tape on the pans, too-- if I remember, they moved around a lot in that red box, which was super annoying. I also made another palette with full pans from Holbein tubes. I like the brush a lot, but I don't use it very often. It's great when you're out and about with a small WC notebook. The color selection in this set could be tweaked- I'd switch out the Viridian and the Prussian Blue (great colors, but rather something else). Someone below mentioned liking the plastic box when at the beach- hadn't thought of that! These paints make me want to paint in a way that the other brands don't. They call my name! Ha! Happy Painting! Thank you so much for your review! I loved it!

[andreatorraca]

Thanks….researching sets to finally get out and paint…..very hot and rainy here in west coast of florida…love your channel.

[glenda]

Great end to end review Emily. I loved especially hearing your endorsement for what you have on your palette and equivalents.