Are Holbein Coloured Pencils Worth the Hype? A UK Artist's Honest Review

You've likely heard the buzz around Holbein Artists' Colored Pencils – those coveted Japanese pencils that once seemed almost mythical outside of Japan.

Perhaps you've seen their stunning 150-color set and wondered: 'Are these the magic ingredient I need for my realistic drawings, or is it just the allure of something exclusive and beautifully packaged?'

I admit, I felt that pull too, especially with questions lingering about their performance and lightfastness. So, I decided to put them to the test.

After all, I needed to test them out for the site, didn't I? That was my excuse anyway!

This review is the result of my hands-on experience, from initial scepticism to a deeper understanding of what these pencils can offer.

New to choosing pencils? This is my in-depth look at Holbein. To see how they compare with a wider range of brands, see my comprehensive Choosing Coloured Pencil Brands: A Beginner's Guide.

My set of Holbein colored pencils

Are Holbein Artists' Colored Pencils Right for Your Realistic Artwork?

Bottom Line First: Holbein pencils are a premium choice, offering a soft, creamy laydown reminiscent of Prismacolor Premier but with a slightly more robust core.

They can produce beautiful, rich results for realistic art, especially if you enjoy their unique pastel and broad colour range. However, their performance is best leveraged by those with some existing skill.

Best For: Artists who love a softer pencil, enjoy building layers, need an extensive range of unique colours (especially pastels), and appreciate high-quality presentation. They are also good for those who work on surfaces that take softer pencils well.

Not Ideal For: Absolute beginners who might find a soft pencil harder to control initially, artists on a tight budget, or those who primarily need readily available open stock pencils from local UK stores (though availability is improving).

Reality Check: These pencils offer a luxurious experience and a fantastic colour palette, but they won't magically fix fundamental drawing or technique issues. Their softness requires a certain touch.

Which Stage of Your Art Journey Are Holbeins Best For?

Complete Beginner: While usable, the softness and cost might be challenging. You might benefit from starting with a more budget-friendly and slightly firmer pencil to master control first.

Developing Skills: If you've got your basic layering and pressure control down and are looking to explore a wider colour range and a softer pencil experience, Holbeins could be an exciting step up.

Advanced Practice: Artists with established techniques will likely appreciate the pigment quality, unique colours, and blending capabilities of Holbeins for professional-level results.

Mixed Media Explorer: The soft laydown can work well with other media, but their specific characteristics should be tested for your intended combinations.

Understanding the Holbein Artists' Range & Colour Palette

Holbein Artists' Colored Pencils are a Japanese product from a company with a 120-year history focused on quality art materials.

They come in impressive sets of up to 150 colours. What really caught my eye, and likely yours too, is that one tray in the larger sets contains a wonderful array of pastel shades along with a small selection of fluorescents. True pastels are difficult to find in many pencil brands, so this is a definite bonus!

The cores themselves have a diameter of 3.8 mm, supported inside a substantial 7.8 mm round wood casing which Holbein state is Forest Protection Certified.

Can Holbeins Help With Common Coloured Pencil Frustrations?

Based on their soft core and pigment quality, here's how Holbeins might address some common challenges:

Muddy Colours: Their soft core allows for good pigment laydown without excessive pressure.

With careful layering (which their softness actually encourages, as you don't need to press hard), you can achieve vibrant results and help avoid that dreaded muddiness.

The wide colour range also means you might find the exact hue you need more easily, reducing the need for extensive mixing on the paper.

Rough Blending: Being softer pencils – reminding me of Prismacolor Premier in this regard – Holbeins generally blend quite smoothly. This can be a real advantage if you've struggled to get seamless blends with harder pencil brands.

Weak Coverage: You should find Holbeins offer good, rich coverage. Their softness helps release pigment readily onto the paper.

Paper Damage: Because they are soft, you don't need to apply excessive pressure to get good colour, which helps protect the tooth of your paper for subsequent layers.

Wax Bloom: Holbein pencils are often described as using a blend of wax, fats, and oils. As with many softer pencils, if you apply many very heavy layers, you might encounter some wax bloom.

I'd recommend light, patient layering and using a workable fixative between broader layered sections if this becomes a concern on your particular paper.

Putting Holbeins to the Test: My Findings

When Holbeins first started appearing in the UK, primarily through Jacksons Art, I knew I had to try them, despite those initial question marks over lightfastness. My excuse was testing for the site, of course!

Initial Feel & Core Robustness: Once I got my hands on them, I found them delightful to use. As mentioned, the feel is soft and creamy, more akin to Prismacolor Premier than my usual firmer Faber-Castell Polychromos. Although soft, I found the cores to be surprisingly robust and less prone to snapping than some other very soft brands.

Sharpening Performance: I could sharpen them well in both my hand-crank (like the M&R) and my trusty electric sharpeners, achieving a good point for detail. However, there’s a crucial exception:

The Soft White OP501 Warning: Holbein includes two whites in their range – the regular white (OP500) and a Soft White (OP501).
The Soft White is a dream for highlights, but it comes with a clear warning on the barrel: "Use knife to sharpen." Please take heed of this!

Attempting to use a standard sharpener on this particular pencil will very likely cause the core to break. It’s well worth the careful effort of knife sharpening for the beautiful, opaque marks it produces.

Lightfastness Revealed!: For a long time, one of the biggest concerns for artists considering Holbeins, especially for professional work, was the lack of clear lightfastness information.

Like many, I was hesitant to use them extensively for original pieces intended for sale without knowing how well the colours would last.

Thankfully, that changed!

Information eventually came to light, often shared by artists who had purchased full sets, confirming that Holbein Artists' Colored Pencils are indeed tested to the ASTM D6901 lightfast standard.

This American standard is a rigorous test for art materials. The documentation provided by Holbein divides their 150 colours into five categories based on this testing

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Permanent LF I (Highest Lightfastness)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Permanent LF II
⭐️⭐️ Moderately Durable LF III
⭐️ (One Outlined Star):** LF IV (Poor Lightfastness / Fugitive)
No Star: LF V (Least Lightfast)

This was the assurance I needed.

Knowing that a significant portion of the range meets high lightfastness standards, I felt confident investing in the full set from Jacksons.

My Advice: Always refer to Holbein's official lightfastness chart when selecting colours for pieces that will be displayed, ensuring you choose from the LF I and LF II categories for maximum permanence."

Layering and Blending: Given their soft core, which I found reminiscent of Prismacolor Premier, Holbeins generally excel at layering and blending.

The pigment flows smoothly onto the paper, and colours meld together beautifully with gentle pressure. This softness allows for rich, painterly effects. However, it also means you need a light touch to avoid over-saturating the paper's tooth too quickly if you're aiming for many layers.

Detail Work: While wonderfully soft for blending and coverage, holding a very sharp, fine point for intricate detail work can be more challenging with Holbeins compared to harder, oil-based pencils like Polychromos.

However, with careful sharpening (remembering the Soft White exception!) and a light touch, they are certainly capable of producing lovely detail, though you might find yourself sharpening more frequently for very precise lines.

Holbeins in the Long Term: Supply & Consistency in the UK

Open Stock Availability: When I bought my Holbeins in (August 2022), Jackson's Art was the primary UK source offering individual pencils.

It's crucial to check if your preferred supplier consistently stocks open-stock replacements for your most-used colours, as this can be a challenge with less mainstream imported brands.

Colour Consistency: Holbein is a reputable company with a long history in art materials, so colour consistency between batches is generally expected to be good, though it's always wise to buy enough of a specific colour for a large project if you're concerned.

Range Stability: With the release of ASTM lightfastness data, Holbein seems more committed to the professional artist market, which is a positive sign for the range's stability.

How Do Holbeins Perform with Key Techniques?

Burnishing: Their soft, creamy texture makes Holbeins very suitable for burnishing. You can achieve a smooth, dense, almost enamel-like finish.

Solvent Blending: Softer, wax/oil-based pencils like these generally respond well to odourless mineral spirits or other blending solvents, helping to break down the binder and create painterly effects.

Layering: As discussed, they layer beautifully, allowing for rich optical mixing. Their softness helps subsequent layers to meld effectively.

Pressure Requirements: They release good colour with relatively light pressure, but can also handle firmer application for deeper saturation.

Paper Interaction: Holbeins will perform best on paper with a decent tooth to grab the soft pigment – something like a vellum surface Bristol board, or specific pastel papers.

Very smooth papers might limit the number of layers, while overly rough surfaces could eat through the soft cores quickly.

Holbeins vs. Key Alternatives for UK Artists

Compared to Prismacolor Premier: As I mentioned, the Holbein feel is quite similar to Prismacolor – soft, creamy, and blendable.

Key differences might lie in core robustness (I found Holbeins a bit more robust), specific colour palettes (Holbein's pastels are lovely), and of course, price and UK availability, where Prismacolor can sometimes be inconsistent.

Compared to Faber-Castell Polychromos: This is a very different experience.

Polychromos are oil-based, firmer, and hold a point exceptionally well for detail. They require more distinct layering rather than the softer melding of Holbeins.

If you love the control and precision of Polychromos, Holbeins will feel much softer and more expressive.

Compared to Derwent Lightfast/Coloursoft: Derwent Lightfast pencils are oil-based and known for their exceptional permanence, often with a firmer laydown.

Coloursoft are much softer, closer in feel to Holbein and Prismacolor, and generally more budget-friendly and readily available in the UK. T

he Holbein coloured pencils offers a different colour palette again, particularly those unique pastels and Japanese-inspired hues.

Tips to Get the Best from Your Holbein Pencils (And Avoid Frustration!)

Don't Overpressure Early: Let the softness work for you; build layers gently.

Heed the Soft White Sharpening Warning! As mentioned, the Soft White OP501 needs careful knife sharpening to avoid core breakage. Don't risk your regular sharpeners with this one.

Choose Your Paper Wisely: Pair them with paper that has enough tooth for layering but isn't so abrasive it wears down the soft cores too fast.

Protect Your Work: Softer pencils can be more prone to smudging, so take care with finished areas or consider using a light spray of workable fixative between broad layering stages if needed.

Are Holbein Artists' Colored Pencils a Worthwhile Investment for You?

For Your First Serious Set: While tempting, the premium price and the characteristics that reward existing skill mean Holbeins might be better considered an aspirational set.

Starting with a robust, versatile, and more budget-friendly option like Derwent Coloursoft or Faber-Castell Polychromos will help you build foundational skills effectively.

For Upgrading or Expanding Your Collection: If you already have experience with coloured pencils, enjoy a softer laydown, and are looking to invest in a premium set with an extensive and unique colour range (especially those beautiful pastels and fluorescents ), Holbeins are a fantastic choice.

Their quality is evident, and the lightfastness data provides peace of mind for creating lasting artwork.

Specific Needs: If your work heavily features pastel shades or you desire that specific soft, blendable quality, Holbeins could fill a unique niche in your collection.

Next Steps

My journey with Holbein Artists' Colored Pencils, from initial curiosity to investing in the full 150-colour set, has been one of pleasant discovery.

That bottom tray of pastels is truly a joy, as are the rich darks!

If you enjoy a soft core pencil, fancy a large selection of different colours, and are prepared for the investment, you may indeed find Holbein colored pencils your perfect choice. They certainly offer a luxurious drawing experience.

What are your experiences with Holbein pencils? Have you found them in the UK? I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can contact me via the Contact page.

Want to explore techniques that work beautifully with softer pencils? Take a look at my guide to Blending Coloured Pencils Smoothly or discover How to Choose the Best Paper for Your Coloured Pencils.

Improve Your Pencil Art: Get Free Tips & Techniques

Sign up for our newsletter – just occasional emails packed with practical advice and inspiration for pencil artists like yourself