Given the core ingredients previously mentioned, the consistency of the Holbein core is simply gorgeous. Smooth and creamy, but with the addition of oils and wax combined, the core is strong enough to maintain a decent point after sharpening. The pencil will not maintain a point quite as long as an oil only pencil, never the less, I was impressed with the longevity of the core throughout various tests. I do not normally use a blender in my work, so I have nothing to compare the Meltz Pencil Blender to, but I am impressed it does so well for something that is water based and not a solvent. I used it in a recent life drawing class alongside my other materials and was pleased with the result. And I couldn’t use Holbeins in any project shared online because one of you would ask for supply info. What would you do? Buy them from the UK and pay almost twice the price? The Meltz blender is a nice addition, and although not necessary to enjoy the pencils, it made some really beautiful textures. With the blender it almost made the Holbein pencils into water soluble pencils which would be great if you already really enjoy using Holbein pencils but you’d like to get a bit more for your money. I personally enjoy mixed media, layering and texture in my work so to be able to use the pencil with the blender was surprisingly enjoyable and I will be including it in my practice from now on.

I highly recommend Holbein for portrait artists. With the large range of browns, pinks, pale blue-violets, and celadon greens, they give you everything you need for realistic skin and skin underpainting for any ethnicity. The Holbein Pencils blend well with each other, and you can achieve different tones and colours by layering. The buttery lead allows them to mix quite well on the paper even without the blender. They go over other materials well, Gouache (when dry), Viarco ArtGraf Drawing Putty and watercolour brush pens as part of a mixed media approach. Holbein Artists Colored Pencils Before reading this review, I would like to inform you that as of November 27th it was brought to my attention that the Holbein Colored Pencils have not been fully tested for sale in the US. Holbein opaques are so dense that they often look a muted in comparison to their translucent colors. I’ve never noticed dullness in the finished product.Holbein, like every other pencil in the world has some wax in it and some oil in it. They’re soft which means they’ve got more wax than oil.

Current safety standards err on the side of caution to the point of stupidity. We don’t eat art supplies but the law assumes we might. The yellows to orange are the fewest in number and the least impressive with a few colors that are pretty darned close to each other. The Meltz Pencil Blender is a water based, therefore non flammable blending thinner. It’s quite a small bottle at 35 ml, but it seems a little goes a long way and it’s also small enough to take on location drawing. It doesn’t have a smell to it which is great because I don’t like to use anything that might be toxic in my small studio space. It does come in a plastic bottle which is a shame, although I’m sure it can be recycled. Originally, The Art Gear Guide and COLORED PENCIL Magazine had arranged to feature the Holbein Artists Colored Pencils in the August issue, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, the Holbein review had to be temporarily put on hold. Despite this, I have finally got round to reviewing the Holbein colored pencil, so here it is and I hope it has been worth the delay.I’ve honestly never found the ideal substrate (paper) to use with Holbeins. I use light pressure and prefer to layer, I don’t burnish. With Holbein, I often end up filling in specific toothy spots that have been missed. This is something that rarely happens to me with other brands. The Dagwood project here was colored on Vellum Bristol (Strathmore 500 series) and it’s toothier than I envisioned. Holbein come pre-sharpened… kinda. They’re sharpened to a shallow point but not enough to actually put a real point on the end— the tippy-tip is quite flat which makes the sharpening is completely useless. Be prepared to spend time sharpening the entire set before coloring. Holbein uses metallic gold to mark all of the pencils which is hard on aging eyes, especially when the pencil is beige or yellow. Fortunately, the font is large. I do end up rolling the pencil to read it, especially when my studio work lights are on. The cardboard container is easy to use (as opposed to Crayola’s doubled-up box) but don’t expect it to last too long. If you press hard enough, these pencils will give good coverage. And they are easier to use than the ultra-budget Crayola. Just don’t think of these as a replacement for artist-grade pencils. Holbein Artists' Pencils are a range of soft and vivid artists' coloured pencils from leading arts manufacturer Holbein.