The TRUTH About HOLBEIN COLORED PENCILS Lightfastness Testing! (PROOF)

Hi Artists! I have an informative video today about holbein colored pencils and some PROOF of the the company's lightfastness test methods. I had been seeing some confusion and misinfomation about holbein pencils in regards to lightfastness, and I thought I'd reach out to the company to get some truth about how they test their colored pencils. The owners of HK Holbein, Inc and its headquarters in Osaka, Japan got together to send an official statement about their lightfast testing methods. This is not just in regards to their colored pencils but all 16 color lines of the company. I think you'll be interested in the precise steps they take to ensure their colored pencils and other art supplies not only meet but exceed industry standards! Their first step is to gather all the pencils/specimens. Second step is they use a Weather-O-Meter to expose the pencils to the Xenon Arc to simulate UV aging of years and decades in a short amount of time. Third step is they use a spectrophotometer to take those specimens and quantify numberically and physically the differences within the results UV aging from the weather-o-meter. Their final step is to take those results and cross reference using the ASTM D6901 industry standards.

This is very important to get to the truth of the matter when it comes to art supply companies and their methods. I actually called up the company to ask about getting an official statement written, and they did! Question everything you see and read, and even me! Sometimes we don't always have the corrrect information, and that's why I wanted to make sure this came from the horse's mouth. Out of the 150 Holbein Colored Pencils, I only found 12 to be fugitive colors, not including the 6 neon colors! The majority of the 12 colors were some of my favorites and favorites of many: the holbein pastel colored pencils. I hope this clears up any confusion or misinformation.

Disclaimer: I am not paid by Holbein or HK Holbein to say anything in regards to their products. I'm simply passionate about the high quality products they offer.

Check out my Holbein Colored Pencil
Playlist!

SOURCES/LINKS TO CHECK OUT:

Holbein’s Official US website:

How does a Spectrophotometer work?

Colored Pencil Manufacturers Use Spectrophotometers to Achieve Consistent Colors:

Xenon Test Chamber/UV testing:

Atlas Ci4400 weather-o-meter

Wonderful World Of Colored Pencils!

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#holbeincoloredpencils #holbein #lightfast #coloredpencils

[ArtistJane]

I wanted to get the straight story, so I called up Holbein and asked for documentation on their lightfast testing for colored pencils. Please take note that this lightfast testing process is the method they use for all 16 color lines across their brand. What do you think of these pencils?

[PursuingHeaven]

Jane, I TRULY appreciate this video! While I love my Holbeins and no amount of snobby artist review is going to change my mind (I am a hobbyist, and I don't sell my work), but I want my children and grandchildren to enjoy my art in the days ahead when I might not be around to touch it up. lol Anyway I actually emailed Holbein and did not receive a response but DID reach out to two different artists from JAPAN that use Holbein and one actually is a board member of Colored Pencil Society of America and she did her own lightfast testing of Holbein. She found that Holbein was about 60% lightfast but they are very honest with the ones that are less lightfast like their pastels and their stars are more or less accurate. She mainly works with Luminance now because she DOES sell her work (upwards 4K a commission) so lightfast is super important but even she said that she found Holbein to be MORE lightfast than Poly Chromos which has ALL the fancy tests behind its name. I don't have a release to tell you who I spoke with but the truth is since she told me this I have felt VERY confident using Holbein. I like Poly Chromos so no diss on them but I LOVE my Holbein and I am happy to know now that I can start my projects with them and mix them with my Luminance and Lightfast pencils and feel they will hopefully last in the days ahead. You rock girl! Thank you for the effort it took to do this!

[scarlet]

I'm glad this was posted. I have seen some unflattering reviews lately on YT about these pencils. I am glad you set the record straight.

[JenniferHRoss]

I agree with Scarlet - thank you so much for doing this and for providing the documentation and the links. Like you, I am a big fan of Holbein as a brand, but I was feeling sort of shamed by a bunch of the recent condemning videos. This makes a lot of sense, and I hope that other people will view this video and see the information. This gives me great comfort. I know the Holbeins aren't for everyone, but I like them (apart from the core breakage issues which I have with my set). Thanks for this and for your videos in general.

[johannamdunn]

Hey Jane I recommend becoming a member of the colored pencil society they have done there own lightfast tests on the colored pencils and there testing significantly contradicts holbeins. Unfortunately, there testing shows almost 1/3 of the pencils to have poor lightfast :( which stinks because i love holbeins colored pencils.

[MyArtSupplyObsession]

You did a great job explaining Holbein's Lightfast testing. I especially liked how you found all the pics of the machines. 👍😊

[milloolee]

I find it funny that the mentioned negative professional artist review pretty much dismissed Holbein as a company just because they didn't respect her clout as a larger YouTuber. That to me is very unprofessional. I'll go with facts and numbers, thanks. You are awesome.

[wickedbrush]

Excellent vid. And timely/relevant info. The countless professional artists who’ve been using Holbein products all these years can’t all be wrong! So glad the Holbein rep you contacted took this seriously and provided you with credible documentation. I will continue to sigh/drool over their products as I save my $ to purchase some. ❤️

[SarahRenaeClark]

Thank you so much for this! I'm actually doing a video about these this week, so I'll link to your video and research you've done. This is so helpful to finally have in writing.

[sheilasinghal]

Thank you! This is so helpful. I was going to buy a set of Holbein coloured pencils after testing a couple of open-stock colours I bought, but then saw so many negative reviews regarding the whole lightfastness issue that I thought I should maybe avoid Holbein forever.

I'm soooo relieved to see your review, and can now happily trot down to my local art store today to pick up a set (20% off an already great price!). 😊

[mwGoosman]

Thanks for posting! Currently I have too many pencils, but if I see some on sale or someone is asking for gift suggestions, I will be asking for these😊

[cmf]

Thanks for this video -I knew Holbein had been around for years I didn't know it was that long. But I felt that being the reputable company they are, the negative videos I've seen about the lightfastness were not accurate - it was someone's opinion. Anyway, thanks for the info!

[violettahaven]

Well done Jane! In regards to the snobby video review everyone is referring to, I wanted to start a drinking game with every time she said, "I'm a professional artist." Man, the drama in that video was a bit too much. I rarely watch that YouTube channel anyway.

[Sandrinesgallery]

Thank you for setting the record straight. Holbein seems to be like such a reputable company. I love using their products. Thank you for sharing.

[NaomiCoutureArt]

Thank you for posting this but I'm not sure why it's so hard to find their lightfast information. I think because it is not plastered on the packaging like most other artist pencils/products are people (including myself) assume that they are not lightfast. However even when they were contacted by email, they did not come right out and say they used ASTM standards but "their own proprietary testing method". I have a few of these pencils I got in a subscription box and actually really enjoyed using them, and now can actually consider buying more of them (maybe if their on sale).

[FindYourDivineDesign]

Thank you so much Jane for setting the record straight. I have not tried Holbein yet but have been thinking about those pastels for some time now. I can feel confident should I decide to get some or all. Full set syndrome is real after all. 😉

[ColorfullyOptimistic]

I think that's my confusion. Holbein US is telling people they don't use ASTM but in house testing and that's creating some confusion. Great video though. The Lightfast was only one of the issues I had but these just aren't pencils for me regardless (doesn't meant others can't like them of course). Did they perhaps talk about why their US reps are telling artists they don't use ASTM? I think that could clear up a lot of issues. Lachri Fine Arts even asked them how they tested and they said they don't use ASTM but an in house system so that's creating a lot of issues among artists.

[jasonray]

Thanks Jane! Really appreciate you following up on this point and getting some clarity. The CPSA lightfast test results (which have some limitations) did not fully support all of Holbein’s own ratings, but this is also the case for other high quality and trusted brands.

It is surprising though that if Holbein are using the ASTM D6901 standard and spending the money on the xenon arc testing, that they aren’t advertising this, particularly given their price point and if they want to compete with CD Luminance and Derwent Lightfast. For now, I find their price point is too high.

[EveBolt]

I was worried for a sec that it would be "drama" or "bad news" and I'm very glad it's positive stuff! I love Holbein a lot, their colored pencils are awesome! It would've hurt if they had turned out to be dodgy 😅😭😨

[mellim]

Thanks very much, Jane! I have observed that many of those who give unflattering reviews usually have an issue with the cost. They feel that the price should justify their expectations of quality. But the truth is, it costs a lot more depending on where one is located and from where one made their purchase. It did not cost me too much because I'm in Asia and ordered them directly from Amazon Japan. (per pencil 40 US cents more than Polychromos) I appreciate what you have shared in this video, thank you!