What Did Jane Send??? Holbein Colored Pencil Review (Collab with Artist Jane Bush)

Be sure to check out Artist Jane Bush on YouTube and see what pencils I sent her!

Today we are going to review Holbein Artists Colored Pencils. Until recently they have been very difficult to find in America and very expensive if you did manage to score a set on Ebay. Now that Blick is stocking them we have a reliable source of both sets and open stock Holbein pencils.

Pros:
Highly pigmented
Fast laydown of color
Ability to layer several layers and mix colors
Good for folks with arthritis as little pressure is needed
Great color selection (range of 150 colors)
Really unique range of robust pastel tones
Lightfast ratings are provided on the pencils with 3 stars being highest.

Cons:
Price ($3.19 per pencil)
Availability (only Blick has them in USA and they can be hard to buy outside of Japan)
Tips wear down quickly

Bottom line:
The most unique feature about this line is the pastel tones. I plan to add a few more of those to my collection where I do not have similar shades in Prismacolor, Coloursoft, or Lightfast. I urge you to try a few open stock pencils before committing to a full set if you are not sure as there is not a huge per pencil savings in the sets and they mix and layer well so I don't think the full set is necessary to create beautiful art. I recommend these pencils but I do hope the price comes down as they become more popular and available.

One more thing, I referenced Arteza colored pencils as a very similar pencil. They have changed the numbering on the pencils so I am not sure if the pencils are still the same quality but they did start offering open stock pencils with the same names of the ones I have but different numbers for anyone who wants to try a couple and see. I have inquired about these new numbered pencils and I will update it here if I find out more.

Credits:
Video production and Craft ideas: Lindsay Weirich
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Social media links:

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#thefrugalcrafter #watercolor #art

[ArtistJane]

You always have the best reviews! I loved yours! Thank you for collaborating with me and it’s been great getting to know you and talking shop too!

[shallremainnameless]

Interesting to watch. Coloured pencils seem a lot of hard work. Kudos to you for having the patience to make them look so nice.

[DeniseBrooks]

Lindsay watching your videos is like hanging out with a friend! Thank you for all of your hard work 👏🏼👏🏼

[lilitincher]

Already did my waaaay too expensive purchase with Luminance. Won't spend another penny on color pencils until they wear out completely. 😅
Thanks for your great videos.❤️

[PursuingHeaven]

Hi Lindsay I appreciate the review. I love my Holbein. I got them from Amazon Japan for only 250 including shipping and duty so that is where I encourage people to get them. I refuse to get them elsewhere at the moment because they are just too expensive. I have learned the hard way not to see professional pencils as "good" or "bad", but rather like tools. There was an artist who did a review this week on them that was not very favorable but she said they perform more like oil pastels rather than colored pencils. I have used oil pastels for years so that might be why I enjoy these pencils so much.

[annewashington]

Loved your review, I am tempted to purchase a few but my frugality runs deep. So glad you and Jane got together, I have enjoyed both your channels for some time now :)

[KitsandCaboodles]

Thank you so much for reviewing these! I really trust your reviews and appreciate your honesty when comparing them to other pencils. I have the older (not water-soluble) Arteza set too, and it is super helpful to know they feel very similar. I think I'm going to do as you suggested and invest in the pastel set, but unless they blow me away I will probably just use the pastel set and open stock to complement my other sets instead of investing $$$ in the full set of Holbeins.

[lavendermemorylane]

You got me really curious about these color pencils. I'm going to Japan sometime this year, so I'll purchase some to try. Oh yea, those * marks. Zero marks to be the colors which DOES fade/change, and * * * to be the colors which never fades/changes. Thanks for the reviews. Your reviews are always fun and interesting to watch! <3

[azalea]

Lindsay, that was indeed a very fair, respectful, thorough, and unbiased review of these colour-pencils. It was a big surprice to me to learn how similar Holbein's pencils are to Arteza's. You are, though, not the first reviewer of Holbein's products to conclude they may not live up to their reputation and thus worthwhile the high costs. Thanks a lot, Lindsay. You saved us a lot of money. Instead, I might get the new Arteza 120 set. I have their previous 76 set, and I am quite fond of those. Many greetings from Denmark.👍🙏❤🌞🙂

[charmsm]

Thank you...and when I say thank you, I mean thank you. No disrespect to all the people on YouTube who say these pencils are the 'holy grail'...I was not buying it. I am in the UK and Jackson's are still selling these open stock and in various sets. I enquired a few months ago if they could obtain the 150 set. They said they could but when they said how much...as deep as I was in my depression and trying to find a comfort from colouring...I thought, at that price, they better be able to get out of the box, put the kettle on and make me a cup of tea...

Lindsay I love what you do...so much. I do not want to hijack this. What I do want to say, if this was down to me, this should be the first video anyone discovering colouring as a hobby/stress relief/ any other reason why you reach out and find this...compulsory viewing.

[yazosoyo]

I just received the Astra Pastelowe pastel colored pencils (my current skill level can’t justify the cost of Holbein pencils)
I have to admit I’m glad I did not obsess over the Holbein and saved hundreds of dollars!
I’ve seen comparison videos of the Astra vs Holbein, and Astra definitely duped the Holbein colors.
I also LOVE my Prismacolor over any other colored pencils.

[jillwiswall]

I have the 50 pastel colors set and I love them! So glad you took a look at these. I think I will stick to my plan of purchasing a few open stock to fill in any gaps in my pencil collection.

[julielondon]

Love you and Jane Bush! Great collaboration!

[lynncooper]

"Silver threads and golden needles and colored pencils will mend a "I got the blues heart."

Lindsay uses those colored pencils like needles and she can thread any color of the rainbow.Awesome❤️🤗🌹

[leesanchez]

Pronounced "hole - bine". No breakage issues. Neat sharp points, but nice soft lay down. SO MANY light colors. What's not to love?

[starr-starr]

Great review. Thank you! Somewhere I found a blog post where the artist had done a one year lightfast test on Holbein, and the one stars did indeed either fade or discolor. But the 2* and higher were pretty much rock solid.

[ArtistRebeccaLS]

That crocodile eye is soooo crisp and vibrant 😻

Super review 👍

[susansacco]

Thanks Lindsay! I bought 4 Holbein pencils recently and also expected them to be softer. I love the pastel colors but not sure I will purchase them. I appreciate your comprehensive review. Thank you. Love your pretty shawl.

[theoutdoordogandhikinggirl]

Great review. The crocodile eye is amazing!

[franswey]

Thank you for sharing this comparison of the colored pencils. Derwent lightfast is one of my favorites along with Derwent drawing colored pencils. I can always learn something about the art materials when I visit and watch your videos. You are an excellent teacher, wonderful artist and a fun person to spend time with. Fran