Holbein Colored Pencils 36 Set Review - Sent by Discovery Japan!

[@jeanlanz2344]

Thank you for your color swatches and commentary. The kookaburra drawing looks very pretty. God bless you!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. 😊

[@sharonc2353]

Just looked it up and the 36 set would be around $123 inc shipping to Australia. Much better pricing than other sites. thank you for sharing this Becky!

[@BeckyTregear]

Oh that's good to know; I hadn't worked out shipping costs for it. I think the 150 set is about half the price of what I've seen in stores here.

[@sharonc2353]

@@BeckyTregear yes, so much better. Definitely something to go on the wishlist.

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

Love that you were able to do more than one artwork with the pencils! They look like fun.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you, I like the set! 💜

[@bethmegansmith4642]

I got a bonus in December and treated myself to the 50 pastel set they are so creamy and smooth the pigment is crazy too . now.... want the 150 set ..... oh I have a green dhal one , I do love it they sharpen great and kind to pencils xxxx thank you again for sharing xxxxx

[@BeckyTregear]

I'd love the 150 set! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the pastel colours. 😊

[@bethmegansmith4642]

🥰@@BeckyTregear

[@shadowguard3578]

The kookaburra picture is lovely! The 36 pencil set is very nice and would be the minimum and maximum size set I’d be happy with. It has a very good range of workable colors right out of the tin. Some open stock pencils could fill in the missing colors and I’d be done. 😊

[@BeckyTregear]

There is a great range in this set, so it's definitely one which can be used for lots of different arty subjects. I just like to have the biggest sets because I'm greedy for alllll the colours! 😂

[@lozantoninocreations]

Their pencils always look so pretty. I would love a set of their pastel range. Although I've got more than enough pencils now to keep me happy. The Kookaburra came out really beautifully.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! The pastel set they have looks really appealing.

[@sueallen952]

​​@@BeckyTregearI bought the pastel set for my birthday in July they are gorgeous, only bought the 12 set and they were expensive

[@ms.rocketscience4924]

Thanks for sharing this video. Those pencils are really nice, but are more expensive and less lightfast than other premium brands. I can appreciate them from afar through your art and save some money. 😄 Your Kookaburra is lovely and the bright green and pink background make it pop. I will buy that pencil sharpener, though. Those points were awesome!

[@BeckyTregear]

Yes, they're pretty pricey! The sharpener is still going well. 😊

[@AlexisCassandraArt]

I’m so jealous ahh!! So exciting. The Holbein pencils really have a unique feel to me. Colored pencil pieces really do take the longest, sometimes I just don’t have patience for them! I think getting the entire set would definitely be way too expensive. I still have my eye on the pastel range👀 maybe one day

[@BeckyTregear]

I think I prefer using coloured pencils with other media, like markers or watercolour, so that underpaintings can be done first, and the pencil part takes less time, haha! But I thought I'd better just use the pencils on their own for this video, seeing as they were sent for me to review. 😆

[@dianethoroughman9541]

Hi Becky, Your kookaburra coloring came out really nice. But, i really loved the coloring picture of the girl. You did a fantastic job with her! I have a few Holbein colored pencils. Not enough to form an opinion. I want all the colored pencils, expensive and cheap! Lol.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you, I had fun colouring her! I am also in the Must Have All The Pencils club. 😂

[@TracieWho]

What a great "gift"! Loved both pieces. Exciting to find a new shopping site with lots of Japanese art supplies. I've never used Holbein pencils but I use their gouache quite regularly. And I use some type of art supplied made in Japan almost every day it seems. I love their art supplies. I'm checking out that website now! hopefully shipping won't be crazy high.

[@BeckyTregear]

I hope the shipping prices are ok!

[@carolcavallaro2476]

My favorites are the Holbein 100 only pastels…..great on black too!

[@BeckyTregear]

I can imagine they'd look awesome on black! One day I shall own the full set, heheh.

[@carrollwilson5169]

Both your kookaburra and the goth colouring in look stunning. Well done

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you 😊

[@jicolourist]

Both pictures were wonderful, thanks for the video. Hi from 🇨🇦👋🏻

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! 😃

[@Elvraie]

Splendid pencils for splendid drawing and colouring. Have a great weekend, Becky.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! You too! 💜

[@DarkModulator]

Getting for free some material for review its good, at least you have saved the trouble and money to get them. Holbein know that they dont need to sponsor their stuff (because its very good) I wish I was not getting all the fake sponsor emails, its getting annoying.

[@BeckyTregear]

That's so true! At one point I was receiving multiple fake sponsor emails on a daily basis - thankfully they seem to have slowed down, or are all going to spam. But yes, super annoying!!

[@chaosinca]

Your kookaburra came out really great! Thank you for reviewing these, i don't really use colour pencils so when i do i follow reviews to skip ahead on the learning supplies curve 😅

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! It had been a while since I'd used pencils so it was fun to do another drawing with them. 😊

[@mulanlovesmilo]

I’ve never seen a kookaburra before! There’s that song about one sitting in an old gum tree? Being in the US, we just don’t have them. I splurged on the pastel set a couple years ago because they were the most unique colors in the range (and the cheaper dupe sets weren't yet available), but find the range lacking. Perhaps it’s time to supplement with the 36 set! Lovely drawing!

[@BeckyTregear]

Kookaburras are so uniquely Australian; and their laughing song is such an iconic sound. It sounds amazing when you can hear it echoing through the trees! I think I'd go for the biggest set which includes all of the pastel colours, but the darker shades too. I've never had much luck with just pastel colours on their own as there is never enough value range. They do look so pretty in their tin though, from what I've seen of them!

[@INCWorks]

I hadn't heard much at all about Holbein colored pencils, so I appreciate your thorough demonstration and review. The Kookaburra piece is a beauty. Cool pencil sharpener, too! BTW, make-up brushes are so useful, aren't they? Great for clearing away pencil dust, collectible figurine dust, and face powder dust!

[@BeckyTregear]

I was very happy to receive a decent sized set of them. 12 pencils is never enough. 😬 Makeup brushes are great; especially the big floofy ones.

[@RamoArt]

I love your Kookaburra drawing. The bright pink and green background make it very interesting and the fact that you incorporated.those colors into the branch brought it all together. Oh to own the 150 set... One can dream.... I own about 10 Holbein pencils and the only one I ever use is the soft white. It's basically an oil pastel, very unique.

[@BeckyTregear]

I dream of that 150 set....I'm thinking of actually ordering it from Japan because when I did the numbers, it's about half the price of buying it within Australia, lol.

[@RamoArt]

@@BeckyTregear it's a business expense, right? 😂 Just kidding, I don't want to encourage reckless spending. However, if you do end up purchasing the full set, I will be there to watch you use it because I won't be buying it anytime soon. I already neglect my Prismacolors due to keeping them separate from all my other pencils (since they are so waxy), I really can't justify buying another full set of pencils that I won't use lol.

[@katarinaholik]

ah, the struggles of a low buy. I am on a low buy, saving for a ticket to Japan. But I did spend 120€ this month, actually on Hollbein 40 set of watercolors and 50 set of pastel pencils. Everything was almost half the price and the shipping I got for free since my friend will send the supplies via her parents. I can't wait, just hope that nothing will go wrong. Now I have to buy the normal range of lightfast pencils, since I only have Brutfuner.

[@BeckyTregear]

It's always worth it when shipping is free! I'd love to go back to Japan; I had a fabulous time there for a year when I was just out of university. I hope you have a great time there. 😄

[@martinanelsonartandpsychol6478]

Gorgeous pics. So much patience! 😅 I don’t know too much about colored pencils. When you say “waxy feeling”, do you mean that they are harder? I have the Polychromos and I find them quite hard. Are the Holbeins the same?

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! They're waxy in their texture, feeling quite different to Polychromos. Polys are firmer and Holbeins are a bit softer and have a slight sheen on paper when layered. Polys are oil based and feel "drier" somehow.

[@martinanelsonartandpsychol6478]

Thanks!!

[@debsmith7050]

Well done! Thanks for your review; very helpful. But wow - what a hand workout

[@BeckyTregear]

Yes indeed, I had to rest my hand after that lot of effort. At least the sharpener made life easier! 😊

[@Azkademon]

wow what an amazing set to be sent, I've never tried the holbein pencils but if I ever win the lotto I will buy both of us the wooden box full set :D both artworks were stunning! And they looked like so much fun to do too, great video, thank you!

[@MrsBarnabas]

Azkademon, I think before spending such a lot of money, I'd take note of how far down those pencils have gone, and Becky's comments that they didn't hold their points very long, were crumbly (needing that soft make-up brush to deal wit it) and needed constant re-sharpening. Then I'd take a look at a couple of coloured pencil people and their coloured pencil (Polychromos, Luminance and Lightfast) sets after months and years of use. I think after that research, I'd change my mind about buying these! Good descriptions could include colorfully + optimistic and / or ... artist + at + play and / or colour + cube So, don't be caught out by all the hype we've been hearing about these pencils - or, in fact, anything else, without doing some thorough comparisons. We have the tools to do that sort of research these days, and it's well worth it! 😊

[@BeckyTregear]

I'm with you on that one; I'd totally buy that wooden 150 box, purely for its aesthetic beauty! 😂

[@BeckyTregear]

Fair paints @MrsBarnabas! I still like the pencils overall and if money wasn't an issue, I'd have that wooden box in a heartbeat haha! But yes, price is definitely a factor in considering these. I probably will get the 150 set eventually because I'd want to do a more in-depth review of their full colour range.

[@MrsBarnabas]

@@BeckyTregear ", purely for its aesthetic beauty! " Those wooden boxes are so beautiful, aren't they! When Sarah Renae Clark opened her box of Polychromos last year, I could almost smell the perfume of the wood, too! It is sooo beautiful! Back in the day, I bought a complete set of W&N pastels because they looked so gorgeous in the box, and it is still beautiful, though the pastels are no longer those pristine sticks of colour. 😄

[@Azkademon]

@@MrsBarnabas while I agree with you totally, your missing the point of my comment, I said if I win the lotto I'd buy, will that ever happen? who knows, if I never win the lotto, I'll never have them pencils lol :)

[@jessbutterfly1934]

Becky I’m looking to get a good range of muted colour pencils between Luminance and Derwent light fast which one would you recommend? Or do you have another brand in mind?

[@BeckyTregear]

Both Luminance and Lightfast are great; I like them equally, haha. They have different colours and shades, so together they make a super set, and they also work well together. So either brand, or mix and match if there are colours from both that you like the look of. I think the only pencil which I don't care for is Luminance Cassel Earth, as mine is quite dry and crumbly.

[@positronixartandlife4545]

If you want dark and muted, go for Derwent Lightfast. If you want more midrange muted, go for Luminance looking at my swatches. Derwent Drawing also has a nice selection of muted tones and earth colours but only has 24 options

[@diannedupuis2960]

Thanks!

[@veystone2580]

I have a customized set. Bought the colors I wanted, but to be perfectly honest, I won't buy them again. They are way too expensive for what they are. They are nice to work with but no. They are somewhat crumbly, they loose their point so fast that you have to sharpen them so often, go you through a pencil ridiculously fast. And I got so mad to discover that such an expensive pencil has such A CHEAP WRITING!!! Come on! The letters erased completly! I have to tape a paper with the color name to ALL the pencils! My very old Polychromos still have the letters visible, they are really old and have always been outside of their box, just lying around with my other pencils. After years the only letters that have faded just A LITTLE BIT is the Walnut Brown pencil, but I can still read it. The Holbein, on the other hand, I bought just 4 months ago and ALL OF THEM are faded away. That is unacceptable! Even with the Prismacolors printed names, that do fade, I have had less issues than with the Holbein. And I don't mind having to tape the name on the Prismacolors being a super affordable pencil, but on a SUPER EXPENSIVE PENCIL?!!! Hell no! What are we paying for?! Where's the all around quality of the product?!

[@BeckyTregear]

I'll be keeping an eye on my pencils over time to see if the gold lettering disappears. Mind you, I'll probably go through the whole pencil before that happens, judging by how much I used in these two pictures, lol! That's sad though and you're right - it shouldn't happen! I wonder if anyone else has had this issue as well? Let me know!

[@ReverieOfThorns]

I've had mine for nearly a year and none of the gold on mine has rubbed off...maybe it's how you're storing them or maybe the gold is reacting with your skin weirdly causing it to flake? I have no idea why it would do that, they're high quality pencils imo.

[@veystone2580]

@@ReverieOfThorns I dont think so. They are stored in a pencil case, those that have individual slots, and I use a cloth glove to hold my pencils, so no skin reaction. Plus I have many other brands if it was some sort of skin reaction (a thing I've never heard before tbh), it would have happened with the some of other brands too.

[@sues7227]

I have read that Brutfuner Macron's are equivalent to the Holbein pastels. I haven't used Holbein but like the Macrons.

[@BeckyTregear]

I might have to try those! 💜

[@ReverieOfThorns]

I have the Holbeins and I have seen the Brutfuners but from what I've seen from some people comparing them, the Brutfuners are great but have a different feeling than the Holbeins.

[@bethmegansmith4642]

my want monster still wants the 150 set .... hahahhha love your drawing and coloring page xxxx Happy holidays

[@BeckyTregear]

Same here! One day the whole set shall be mine....🤣

[@melissaaldosari8024]

Beautiful!

[@judywaddell6065]

loved the kookaburra!!!!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you 😊

[@carltanner9065]

I'm looking to get the 50 set in both the normal and pastel pencils. Probably next few weeks or so. I want a waxier pencil to compliment my Lyra Polycolors. I have some Prismacolor pencils, but they have a habit of breaking all to easy. Pity, since they're not so cheap, either. Their verithin range is good, but the premier range really needs to get back to its roots.

[@BeckyTregear]

Yes the Premiers are heartbreaking with how easily they break. One day I will dive in and buy the full set of these Holbeins. Probably cheaper to go to Japan to buy them that way, than actually getting them in Australia, haha!

[@ReverieOfThorns]

Everyone always says they have issues with their Premiers and never have issues with their Verithins but I have the exact opposite! My Verithins broke and broke and broke and I've only had major breakage issues with a handful of pencils over the decade I've been using the Premiers. Funny how that works!

[@bethmegansmith4642]

Thank you for this review your picture is wonderful. I have found painting is wonderful I have been using water color 12 pan Artway Uk Brand Beginners hahahaha , Panpastels area no go for me the price is too much and I don't like pastels .Paint is great .......Yes Holbein are insane price and yes Pastel color are on my Wishlist too. I brought 2 color soft pencils Pale Violet and Bright Purple .thank you again for your help .Happy swatching xxxxxxxx

[@BeckyTregear]

Holbein watercolour paints are excellent too; I have a few of those in a small tin and they're ones I use frequently. 😊

[@bethmegansmith4642]

@@BeckyTregear oh onice ...hahahaha xxxx

[@oraweetaphianthong877]

Over $600? But I saw the full set on Amazon Australia for $470 though.

[@BeckyTregear]

They are indeed a lot cheaper online! I think from Discovery Japan it works out in the 300's, so half of what I've seen them go for in retail stores here. That's such a huge difference, lol.

[@Artsy_cosplay18_FanChannel]

I have used the prismacolour pencils and they're nice how do they compare to these pencils? They look really nice these pencils

[@BeckyTregear]

They're a bit different to Prismas. Holbeins feel firmer to use and not as buttery soft as the Prismacolors, but they also don't break as much so they're a lot easier to sharpen. My Prismas break all the time, which drives me somewhat insane, lol.

[@ReverieOfThorns]

I have both sets and the Holbeins feel a little bit like oil pastels to me! They've got the firmness and the great ability to layer like the Polychromos pencils, if you've ever tried those. They are great to blend and have vibrant and opaque colors like Prismacolor. They're great, I personally really love them.

[@jessbutterfly1934]

What is Ko-Fi? I only know or Patron

[@BeckyTregear]

It's like Buy Me A Coffee, so it started off as a donation page (usually around $3-$4) but I think it has expanded to be more like Patreon, with memberships etc.

[@learnartwithme3766]

Defnitely more expensive than pablo's.

[@BeckyTregear]

Oh yes, for sure!

[@chevgage6210]

Pinks and purples are the hardest to make light fast. Unfortunately they're dodgy about their lightfast tests so you can't trust their claims anyway. It sucks cause I want to love holbein so bad.

[@BeckyTregear]

They certainly are! I just use them anyway for most things, because I keep my original artworks in folders anyway. Hanging on the wall, I would try to aim for more lightfast colours. But I love pink and purple!! 😭

[@chevgage6210]

​@BeckyTregear yeah it just didn't surprise me that the hot pink is the problem child haha. Lightfasteness doesn't matter if you want to sell prints so you could just do that if you transition into paid work. I'm working on designing stickers and colouring pages but I'm a ways away from being comfortable in publishing anything. Light fastness doesn't affect me right now.

[@ReverieOfThorns]

Holbein watercolor and gouache uses the same pigments as their pencils and they're accurate as far as most watercolor artists who use them have said. Yes, they did their own independent testing, but Holbein seems really committed to creating quality products. Besides, I have seen a few people do their own tests online and have confirmed that their results matched Holbein's own test results. I'm planning on doing my own year long sun exposure test, one in my window which faces the sun all day and the other just up on the wall exposed to a little sunlight and overhead lights. I'm confident it'll go well. Pinks are highly fugitive, though, so I am a bit skeptical about those. I guess we shall see! I'm thinking of including Prismacolor in the mix too maybe. I might wait to do this until I get my Chromaflow pencils and the Mitsubishi Uni pencils since there's very little information on the latter.

[@bethmegansmith4642]

why is the polychomos white soooo bad ? I mostly ise it to blend hahahahaha

[@BeckyTregear]

It's far too transparent! 😭

[@bethmegansmith4642]

@@BeckyTregear 🤣😂

[@awatercolourist]

Just saying first!

[@twingytwango6971]

Sorry, but for the prices of the Holbein there shouldn’t be crumbing.

[@BeckyTregear]

I love them except for that!

[@ReverieOfThorns]

I've had crumbling problems with almost every soft artist pencil ever. My Derwent Coloursoft pencils crumble horrendously badly and I've had Luminance crumble on me too. I think it just comes with it being a soft pencil. To be honest, I haven't noticed much crumbling with the Holbeins, I've gotten more with the Prismacolors and Luminance pencils. Nothing compared to those Coloursoft pencils, though, those were insane and I wasn't even being heavy handed with them! I was so disappointed. But yeah, I haven't had any crumbling with the Holbeins. Crumbs, yes, crumbling? No.

[@rodneytregear7407]

Nice, nice, nice. Seriously though, a lot of good information.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thanks Dad! 😊💜

[@onyxxxyno]

I wonder if you can have pencil sharpener blades sharpened?

[@BeckyTregear]

I tried to sharpen one myself and took too much off the blade, rendering the whole sharpener completely useless, lol! 😂

[@positronixartandlife4545]

You can buy replacement blades depending on what you're using - I know Kum sells a 3 pack of replacement blades which seem to be standard size, then Faber Castell and M+R do their own replacement blades