Holbein Watercolors Review - My Own Curated Set!

[@carrollwilson5169]

Love Holbein. The gold paint is gorgeous. Love the clown fish painting. Have a great week, looking forward to what you do next

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you so much 😊

[@Azkademon]

Holbein paints look awesome, never tried them, and your Luna moth painting was fantastic I could see the whole page working as one as the top left corner had been 'ripped' to show the night time Luna moth and all the others were in the daylight, or that's how my brain saw it :) and the cute little clown fish was brill too! :D

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! The dark background around the moth is still bugging me, but I'll live with it, haha! 😂

[@dennybean4009]

Nice palette! I love that greenish yellow. Glad it grew on you. Lovely paintings Becky! Have a wonderful week! 👍🎨

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you; it has been a very useful colour so I'm glad I have it now. I hope your week is going well too!

[@marielouiseweeksb33attitud33]

I think your butterfly spread pulled together really well in the end. Good rescue operation. Love your colour collection.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! They turned out ok in the end, but that paper...arg!

[@kellysartthrob]

I really enjoy your videos. The yellow grren and dioxazine violet are brilliant together ❤️ and the gold on top turned out great! You come up with combinations I would never think of. I love the butterfly page, too!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you very much! Purple and green go together surprisingly well, as long as they aren't mixed together too much....in which case it goes muddy very quickly, haha!

[@veystone2580]

Their Permanent Lemon Yellow is transparent and so beautiful!

[@BeckyTregear]

@@veystone2580 I'd pick that one next time! 😂

[@vermis8344]

0:32 "... and I've got all the tubes..." Yes. Yes you do. "... laid out beautifully in these boxes." Oh. Well. That too.

[@BeckyTregear]

@@vermis8344 😂😂 an embarrassing amount of tubes!

[@ItsAlcs]

Love Holbein paints! They're my first ever professional watercolors to use, they are also much affordable here in our country. Thanks for this wonderful review!

[@BeckyTregear]

They're really great paints! 😊

[@berolinastrassmann]

Thanks, Becky! It is useful to hear your opinions after using the paint for years. You know them so well! Useful to see how this paper works too. I only have a starter set by Holbein and am planning to expand my collection. Your clown fish is so beautiful!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I've been tempted by the larger box sets of tubes before, but as I mentioned in the video, I really don't want to have to move them to a new tin and rearrange everything again, lol!

[@jaxluczar3262]

That Royal Blue is so gorgeous! Geez I've been sticking to the wrong shades of blue! Awesome video and swatching

[@BeckyTregear]

It's a really beautiful blue! I think it might be Indanthrone Blue; I've already forgotten the pigment number, haha! ❤

[@debsmith7050]

I like Holbein and your curated palette. Your clownfish is awesome.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! 😊

[@firdyk]

What a beautiful painting of the clownfish!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you 😊

[@Julie-vy3oz]

I collected a few of the pastel colors. They are a little frivolous but very pretty.

[@BeckyTregear]

I think of any pastel colours I've used, these ones are the nicest (the two pinks and grey of grey at least!). 😊

[@bethmegansmith4642]

Ah Man you made me really laugh at this video .....really love your fish it rocks 🥰

[@MirandaWatsonArt]

I always enjoy myself when I use my Holbein watercolor palette. I love the Grey of Grey. You have some really fun color choices in your palette! Looks like you'll need to take that gouache gold with you on your trip, too!

[@BeckyTregear]

Grey of Grey is a great colour! 😊I hadn't planned on putting the gold in, but that may be a last minute addition now I'm watching my video again. 😂

[@rebeccah7689]

@@BeckyTregear I've gone back and forth on adding grey of grey to my palette, and I think this convinced me. 🙂

[@sararamer-dean7846]

I have a few of these colours too. I really love the Marine Blue so very much. I bought several tubes before they changed from PB16 to a 2-pigment mix. Lovely work!

[@BeckyTregear]

I didn't know they'd changed the formula; I'll have to treasure my Marine Blue in that case! 15ml tube lasts forever anyway. 😂

[@sosumi_rogue]

Very cool color palette you have there. I do love the names Holbein picks for their paints. Grey of grey name made me chuckle a little. Seeing you use it makes me want to get a tube and give it a go.

[@BeckyTregear]

It's the greyest of grey! Not too white, not too black....only greyyyy!! 😂 But it is actually a fun watercolour to have and I've used it more than I expected.

[@FaithAnnNB]

Love the clownfish!! I like seeing non-typical sets of colours, I think it’s really interesting to see what you can do with different colours in a palette 😊.

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! This is about the only set I have that has pinks, so I use them quite a lot! 😊

[@ChantelleArts]

a fantastic review, those metallics look amazing ☺☺

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you 🤗

[@MrsBarnabas]

Hi, Becky! Isn't it such a lovely feeling each time we use a paint box we've put together ourselves, and can just relax and enjoy the experience of using them! And hooray for Moulin de Roy paper! I've never used it. I've so many other papers as well as my two preferred papers that I've not really thought about it. But I love to see you being so happy with it! I think your butterflies came out better than you thought at the time. Not as good as on decent paper, but still very pretty and colourful. For the paper itself, from what I've seen from a couple of smaller-channel ArtTubers, this paper is a delight for gouache, so maybe this is could be your solution? Instead of just sidelining it, and forever having that sad feeling at the very back of your mind about it, why not try using it for gouache? Hope this helps? I'm gradually using mine up, accepting its limiitations and using it with watercolour and coloured pencil, as I'm not a gouache person. It works pretty well, so long as I'm willing to use coloured pencil to help it along, but with a preference / need for wet in wet and colours that dry accurately on the paper, I'll be very glad when it's filled!!! (five pages to go!) I still have that 14 x 14cm book sitting in my sketchbook storage. I regretted it within days of trying the A5, and am still wondering how to use it. Maybe I'll do use it for a sketchbook challenge, which for me, always involves a very mixed bag of subjects and media? 🤔 There're still 38 pages of my 12 x 12 cm,160 page Art Creation to fill, though. I had a longer-than-intended break from Christmas to mid-June! This second s/b challenge has turned out rather differently from the first - a lot more doodles!😊

[@BeckyTregear]

I've only got one sheet left in my Moulin du Roy paper pad; I have thoroughly enjoyed filling up those papers! 😆 I definitely need to try gouache out in the sketchbook, and I'm probably going to "retire" it soon and maybe start a new book, but I am determined to finish it all with paintings and sketches. It's just not working well for watercolours, but watercolour pencils are fine, and I am sure opaque paints would be better on it too. Though not acrylic inks, apparently! I hope you manage to finish your books. Ironically, the Art Creation paper seems to hold every medium I've thrown at it really well! I really like those books!

[@MrsBarnabas]

@@BeckyTregear I've been an advocate for those Art Creation books ever since Covid caused empty shelves of most other things, leaving those humble books behind. I'm glad I bought my first - an A5 red one for me, and another for a friend who wanted to try sketching - out of a choice of that, or nothing! The little 7.5 x 12 cm challenge was great fun as a daily art challenge (my first ever!!!). The 12 x 12? A bigger challenge, cos it was an unknown format, but yes - just 36 and a half pages to go now! (Half because I need to darken the dragonfly background which looked good when I did it, yesterday, but in better light, far too pale! 😄), which means it should be finished by the end of August! I am very proud of them both, because of the way they've performed, and the challenge they each represent.

[@bethmegansmith4642]

I am in love with the purple...... yes lovely colors well done love your Paintings is the Hm paper sized ? maybe hahahahah skinny sketch book hahahahah yeah gold whoop Happy Swating

[@BeckyTregear]

It's a lovely purple! I would have thought the paper would be sized, but not as much as I want apparently, lol! The skinny sketchbook has been more fun to use, even though it's not cotton. 😆

[@bethmegansmith4642]

@@BeckyTregear the sninny book looks fun. I also like the creations sketch book too i have 43 A5 sizes and working in a lavender A6 one ....🥰😀

[@Replicanna]

Damn I love the background of the clownfish, though he is cute too! Also the green and purple were so nice together, but maybe not suited to the overall colour scheem? Awwww, look at his face there now! The butterflies are very nice too, reminds me of the outhouse we had on our summer cottage, it had a poster on the wall of many species, so pretty!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! Yes those two colours got a little out of hand, haha! But gold over the top hides all. 😆

[@jacquicoote_art]

Beautiful work Becky! One things for sure, I won’t be getting a hahnemuhle sketchbook 😂

[@BeckyTregear]

I really want to like the book, but that paper has been giving me nothing but grief since I started it! Maybe it's just me....lol.

[@jacquicoote_art]

@@BeckyTregear it just makes me chuckle each video you try it. But you are persistent!

[@MrsBarnabas]

@@BeckyTregear Becky, it _isn't_ just you!!!!! Anyway, I've posted a fuller comment just now, so maybe that will help. Hope so, anyway! 🤗

[@Petra0612]

The Holbein colours look really nice. Haven't tried any yet. I admire your perseverance with the sketchbook, I would throw it in the bin! Clownfish 👍

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! That book was expensive so I can't bring myself to throw it away, but I am probably going to retire it soon and buy a new book for showing on camera. Looks like Etchr have started selling all of their sketchbooks on Amazon so I might try the Perfect Sketchbook next!

[@paulah317]

Hmmm...I might have to reorganize my paintbtubes by brand after seeing your set up! I have my favorite Holbein paints too especially Royal blue, peacock blue and Pyrolle red I can't do without. I also have 2 Hahnemule sketchbooks still in packaging. I hope I have a good experience with them once opened. Love both of your paintings. I am always inspired by you and your happy videos.

[@BeckyTregear]

@@paulah317 They're such wonderful colours, the ones you mentioned! I've found it so much easier to find individual tubes now that I have them organised in boxes. I figured I'd go by brand, but colour could also work. I hope you have a better experience with your sketchbooks, and let me know what you think of them. ❤️

[@MrsBarnabas]

@@BeckyTregear If it's a newer one, I think it'll be ok. Those first-release books were sooo weird, but I''ve not seen any comment from them about it.

[@lozantoninocreations]

I've always mentioned Payne's as being one of my favourite colours, but Indigo is probably the other. I use both a lot for painting and even pencils. I need some Holbein. I don't own any of their products and yet I'm always tempted by their pencils and gouache. I love their colours.

[@BeckyTregear]

Yes, I always want a Payne's Grey and/or Indigo; they're both great! I bought my Holbein tubes from The Art Shop, and I think Dean's Art in the city also stocks Holbein products. Not sure where else, aside from Amazon.

[@attorneycarissa]

Loved your clownfish!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you 😊

[@vhacker71]

Both painting are fun. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you so much 😀

[@Grognardlass]

Yes! I have a “little poking tool” tool!!! 🌺😂😂😂😂😂

[@BeckyTregear]

A highly useful tool to have in the studio! 😂

[@Grognardlass]

@@BeckyTregear and let’s not forget the ever faithful paper clip 😂

[@riverAmazonNZ]

I love Holbein gouache but I haven’t tried their watercolour. I’m sure they’re good, holbein always is! So glad it’s available in NZ now

[@BeckyTregear]

Both the gouache and watercolour ranges are great! I really like Holbein products too. 😆

[@riverAmazonNZ]

@@BeckyTregear my fave gouache so far is Russet Green 💚

[@diannedupuis2960]

Nice work!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you!

[@ms.rocketscience4924]

I love these paintings❤️ The butterflies are lovely and whimsical, but I was expecting a nicer paper from 100% cotton. The paint really does look much nicer on the paper with the clownfish, which is amazing!

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! It is very disappointing paper; I can't warm to it no matter how hard I try, lol. I think I'll be retiring the book soon and getting a better one.

[@zenlife1200]

I haven't tried Holbein paints yet. I was looking at their acrylic gouache to try but I might see if they have any interesting colors that Daniel Smith don't have that I could add to my watercolor palette.

[@BeckyTregear]

@@zenlife1200 I've only tried their tradition gouache, but it looks like they have a pretty big range of colours in acrylic gouache. I covet the large box set of them! 😂

[@shadowguard3578]

Love the fish! I have some Holbein watercolors but I’ve never used them! 🤭

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you, and now is your time to use them, haha! 😂

[@shadowguard3578]

@@BeckyTregear 🤞☺️ and you’re welcome!

[@Replicanna]

I want the grey of grey, indigo and shadow green, such pretty colours! I have Imidazolone yellow and permanent alizarin from your palette, going to get more of course when I find the right price! Interesting thing is that the name Bamboo green is also used by Mijello Gold set with the same pigment

[@Replicanna]

Also payne's grey and indigo have the same pigments, normal, I guess (just a note to self)

[@BeckyTregear]

PG36 is a common pigment, though a lot of companies will go for the Phthalo Green Blue Shade PG7 as their main green. I've always liked the yellow shade green better I think.

[@Replicanna]

@@BeckyTregear Oh yes, PG7 is everywhere, could really have something else for a change 😁

[@creativesolutionsart-h3o]

Beautiful color choices, Becky! I love Holbein paint of all kinds :-) I don’t think I have an ultramarine blue in my set either, I have it in so many other sets. I thought I would just make it different :-) I’m not one for pastel colors, but the ones in your set Are really nice. :-)

[@BeckyTregear]

@@creativesolutionsart-h3o Thank you, I often have Ultramarine in sets as well so it makes a change to have the darker blue instead. I find pastel colours need to be paired with darker ones to be useful otherwise there isn’t enough range of values. 😊

[@Deedeedoodad]

Have you tried the schminke essential set of 6? If not would you consider reviewing it/ comparing it to the Daniel smith essential set? 😭

[@BeckyTregear]

I haven't seen that set; I'll keep an eye out! 👀

[@Deedeedoodad]

@@BeckyTregear apparently it’s been out for a while but I’ve only seen 1 review on KZbin 😭 it looks very nice and the color selection seems very similar but I know schminke have a different formula so I’m wondering how their version performs in comparison with DS

[@nattyw495]

I like your color choices it seems like your able to do alot of mixing with the colors choices to get different colors, enjoyed video found it interesting especially your view on paper and how it affects the color do you think you might do a review on different paper and how paint will sit on top or absorb better into the paper.🖊📒🎨🖌🇺🇲🇨🇦💙 yes i use coliro to give that extra bling..

[@BeckyTregear]

Thank you! I've made all sorts of mixes out of this set and it is one of my most used palettes to this day (judging by the battered tin, haha!). I have considered a paper comparison, though I have numerous options to choose from and I might end up confusing myself - some research is needed for that video! 😊

[@Thia-saurus]

I wonder if you got a bad batch of paper.. Hahnemühle is usually a pretty good brand I think. 🤔 anyways.. I really enjoyed the paintings today despite the struggles with the paper. also, that gold gouache paint is sooo pretty 🤤

[@BeckyTregear]

I think it is genuinely like this! 😭 It works better with watercolour pencils, so I'll probably end up moving to a new sketchbook soon, and will fill out the rest of this one with less watercolour, lol.

[@jennw6809]

I understand your issues with the Hahnemuhle book... although I like mine and I've bought and filled many with quick abstracts and loose landscapes. I can understand why your style would not work well on it. I think they are really aimed at urban sketchers, so the paper has little texture and is not great for layering or details. I do wish they'd just use their Collection paper in the books personally, but then again they are pretty cheap here in the US for a cotton book and I'm sure that the good paper would be very expensive. I am surprised you like the Talens book for watercolor though -- I haven't tried them, but I've heard so many complain! Hey, whatever works for you!

[@BeckyTregear]

The Hahnemuhle books are very expensive in Australia. 😭 That's partly why I've been whinging about it, haha. I think by comparison, because the Art Creation book was so cheap and I wasn't expecting much from it, that it exceeded my expectations and it also works better with more of my supplies. It's funny how things work out sometimes! But we all have our favourites, and you're totally right that art style also plays a part in that. 😊

[@Karuna-kx8wy]

I have the holbein pan set but it had room to add some pans so I also got some extra, one being the raw sienna, and weirdly it did the same thing (it seems to shrivel away from the corners of the pan)

[@BeckyTregear]

I guess it's the nature of the pigment - earthy ones can do that!

[@rayne6737]

I have some the same and some different but I love my Holbein set. I love a lot of art supplies they make. I just can’t handle how expensive they are. P.S. Depending on what I’m doing I ❤️metallic paints.

[@BeckyTregear]

Their watercolours aren't too expensive here (compared with a few other brands), but that 150 pencil set is a ridiculous price! 😭

[@rayne6737]

@@BeckyTregear They are off the charts here.🙁😟

[@BeckyTregear]

@@rayne6737 it's probably cheaper to go to Japan and buy them there! 😂

[@rayne6737]

@@BeckyTregear Could be.

[@heathersherlock]

Hi Becky, I just purchased a set of 30 x 5ml tubes direct from Japan via Ebay for $107 which I thought was an awesome deal. I can't wait to get them. Your swatching made me want add to my collection already. :) What is it with watercolour "collectionitis". I have it, that's for sure! Anyway, I was feeling your pain with your sketchbook. I bought a Canson XL 300gsm sketchbook for messing around in (after hearing other people raving about it) but I don't like it. It's obviously cellulose or something and it dries so streaky I don't even like it for swatching. But I will persist! (I like the cheaper Baohong Academy paper much better, btw.) I love your moth and butterfly painting. I was also a bit put off by the addition of PW6 in a number of the colours, but I can see that they may have their uses. Thanks for your informative video.

[@BeckyTregear]

Wow, a set of 30 - that's awesome! I hope you love your new paints. 😄 I have some Canson XL lurking somewhere in my studio; I should try it out again, just to see if I get streaks too.

[@heathersherlock]

@@BeckyTregear BTW I just watched your review of the 5th Gen Paul Rubens set of 24. I saw Amazon Australia have both sets on special for under $70, and I bought the black version for $63.99. Yay. But that's it now I'm not collecting any more brands! I have several and need to fill out my collections of these. I'm putting a moratorium on buying anything but replacements for the rest of the year and all of 2025!!!

[@BeckyTregear]

@@heathersherlock Haha I hear that! It gets out of control quickly, especially with so many tempting sets out there on the market.

[@karenirving7088]

I did the lemon yellow thing too. 😢

[@BeckyTregear]

Doh! 😭 Apparently the one to get is Permanent Lemon Yellow.....sigh!

[@karenirving7088]

@@BeckyTregear I don't have a dedicated Holbein palette but I love some of their colours. I particularly like PY3 so I use Daniel Smith Hansa yellow light.

[@karenirving7088]

@@BeckyTregear I wish more of the online suppliers would include pigment information more clearly.

[@sophiaemilia3868]

Thank you for this vid. As I saw your drawer full of watercolour I have a question, how old is your oldest tube? I have a similar drawer and scared that they will dry up in the tubes before I am able to use them up. 😮😂

[@BeckyTregear]

I shamefully haven't been collecting them for all that long really, lol! Maximum getting close to a decade? I've had pan sets longer but didn't get into tubes until later down the track. But I'd say some of my oldest tubes are that indigo which is still nice and juicy, and my Art Spectrums which are mostly ok but Lemon Yellow is drying up faster than the others, almost to the point where it won't easily come out of the tube. I guess I'll have to cut the tube open and drag out the dried paint, which can still be reactivated. Otherwise everything is holding up well, and I think storage has a lot to do with keeping them going for longer, along with general climate etc. But I fully expect I'll have some dried up tubes before I can ever use them all......👀

[@catbraunwell6450]

I love Holbein watercolors. I am curious why you have two pinks in there that are quite close and color. Do you not like mixing or do you just really love those two pinks? Just curious no criticism here.

[@BeckyTregear]

@@catbraunwell6450 I originally had the Brilliant Pink, and I think I saw a few videos where people were saying how much they loved the shell pink, so I thought I'd grab that one too. Shell pink is a better base for skin tones, and looks more natural than the brilliant pink. It's an unconventional palette for sure! I also really like pink, lol! 😂 EDIT: and yes, I'm far too impatient for mixing, hahaha.

[@jackielubeck]

THX SO MUCH