Holbein Colored Pencils Tips & Demo!

Today's episode covers quick tips and demo for Holbein Artists' Colored Pencils, which are some of my personal favorites and were also featured in my Top 3 Colored Pencils video (link below).

These tips include layering, sharpening, using a blender, and more while I render my current Day Of The Dead piece.

Disclaimer: I'm not sponsored by Holbein. I just love their products and am a fan of these colored pencils. :) I apologize for the change in lighting during the demo! I was recording in 2 different places.

You can purchase these pencils on eBay or Amazon! Currently they are not sold open stock in the United States (although I have seen a few scatter open stock pencils on Amazon; not many though). They are made in Japan, and you may be able to purchase them open stock through their distributor.

Check out my LATEST REVIEW Of Holbein Colored Pencils:

Question: What are YOUR favorite colored pencils and why? Any colored pencil tips to share? Leave in the comments section below!

Follow SCA/me on social media:

[mizzykola]

I liked what you said about the mistakes thing. It reminded me of what my High School art teacher told us. He said that artists don't make mistakes because those "mistakes" can be used to finish the piece. It was one of those don't view it as a mistake but something to work from.

[sharonsmith]

My husband has just order the Holbein set for my Christmas present, I am so excited! I also have the full sets of the prismas and the polychromos

[cLorraine]

They are sold open stock from Japan. go to wakuwaku, com they speak/read English. Order then they email an invoice which includes a service fee ( common in Japan, even if you live there) they also calculate postage via airmail then make the calculation in your currency. They pack your pencils very well in a lovely box (also typical when buying anything in Japan ). The service is exceptional .

[cathysparks]

I love Holbeins and prismacolors. For someone with arthritis in my hands, these 2 brands are the easiest to use due to their creaminess and ease of lay down.

[peterjmaida]

Wow I need to look for these colored pencils. I am a man on a mission now. LOL Thank you for another great tutorial.

[brennakingsbury]

I believe that you can also order these pencils directly from Amazon Japan. They're almost $100 cheaper there than the price listed on Amazon US (or they were when I looked a couple of weeks ago). I'm sure the international shipping cost would eat into that price difference a bit, but it may still be cheaper than going through Amazon US!

[roeipalantart]

first of all thank you for doing a video with holbein!! i think you are the first that talks about them.. now i have a few questions..
1.how is the white pencil? is it opaque?
2.do you prefer them over polychromes?
3.what blend better? polychromes or holbein? (without colourless blender)
4.are there a lot of skin tones?
hope you can answer these questions :)

[Hani_Hissam]

Faber Castell classic pencil is one of my favourite. Inexpensive, for me as a 14 years old non art class student. it's budget friendly and so easy to grab in any store

[FaerywingArt]

You can get open stock of the Holbein pencils, depending on the store. Texas Art Supply in Houston carries them—they don’t have the full set, and I just bought the individual pencils in the display over time until I had the full set. There’s also a couple of other art supply stores who have them.

[robertheilmeier]

As a lefty myself I can relate to jour problems :-).. Thanks for sharing your tips and experiences, I definitely feel enriched and your art is amazing. You also make me itch to try to get some Holbein pencils, I have used the Polychromos pencils for decades but the Holbeins really appear to layer even better. Greetings from Germany!

[nancykirk]

WOW! Was I glad to find this about Holbein Pencils, since I recently purchased the set of 150. However, I don't draw or do art on my own, I love to color in the adult coloring books. I have tried using these gorgeous pencils a little bit in them without much success and I think I really need to learn how to shade and blend with them. I am sincerely hoping you will be doing coloring book pages too, do you think you will? I have Faber Castell Polys and Prismacolors too, and like them also, but, I am really wanting to get experience in using the Holbeins, so Im really hoping you will demonstrate more! And. by the way, I'm a southpaw too!
And, I hope I don't sound cheap, but, although I am in love with my new, beautiful set of Holbein Pencils, I hate to waste them by just experimenting with them, lol. Since they are so soft, they do wear down fast, and I won't be able to purchase another set for a long time!!! So, any tips, examples, and actual demonstrations with them will be fabulous! Thankyou for this and hope there is more to come!

[CrystalMartinArt]

Love this! Also, it was so refreshing to hear someone else feels the electric sharpener eats pencils and prefers manual. It's a very unpopular opinion but I am one of the manual only people too.

[jenniefrench]

I appreciate your review. I also am a colored pencil artist so I purchased some of these. I was disappointed. There is no way to now how long the color will last because they did not have them tested so as an artist I can not trust that they said that they did I their own in company test. Colored pencil artists association has done their own testing and it is scary if a professional artist had sold a painting made from these. For those who don’t mind that’s cool. They did not blend with any of my five other brands. They looked like an oil slick and I sent them back. The few I forgot to send back I gave away. They are not professional artist pencils but the price is. My recommendation is to see if Holbein allows them to be tested (costs a lot) or acquiesces and sells them even less than Prismas. Then either one could save a lot of money or just wait for the Derwent Lightfast to go on sale again as they do frequently for $2 something at Blick’s Art.

[neikaplay]

I have this set and they are really great and high quality. I think Polychromos would complement this set nicely for detail and line work. I look forward to seeing more demos with them.

[edspencer]

My favorite are Holbein, second is Holbein and probably number 3 is Holbein. Nothing else compares ‐ NOTHING.

[ooXChrissieXoo]

I want to try out Holbein after Pablo!
It's true, colored pencils take so long...

[jackiedrowley]

I like LYRE the best but I'm going to try the HOLBEIN . Thanks for sharing.x

[simonlastname]

Yay another leftie ! :D Good idea to keep a piece of paper under your hand, I always end up with a multi-colored part from the little finger down to the wrist and it's so easy to accidentaly transfer it to the drawing. As for pens I only have the Marco Raffiné bought from ebay but I'm looking in to buying artist-pencils and go over all the reviews I can find (which is how I found your channel. Looking forward to seeing more videos from you ! :)

[ynotann]

Thank you for this wonderful video, it was really informative.  My favourite coloured pencils are Prismacolor and I really like Lyra. Best wishes Ann in South Australia.

[tanyachmilar]

I know this was done 5 years ago, but I love my Holbein colored pencils. Blicks in the US not carries them. Watched your recent video on the lightfast document from Japan, thank you for that