Holbein oil pastels review and swatches
Now that I’ve been using my Holbein oil pastels more (and expanded my palette box) I would like to update my review on them.
I talked about them previously in this post where I compare several brands.
HOLBEIN ARTIST OIL PASTEL
These are beautiful artist grade oil pastels that I would say have medium hardness. They still feel soft while working with them but not melting buttery soft like Sennelier’s. They layer and blend very nicely! And mix well with other brands of oil pastels.
Holbein says that their oil pastels “feel and move like a chalk pastel without the dust” but, although they may be the closest thing to a soft pastel stick, I don’t get the same experience or feel. They are lovely in their own right but they aren’t like soft pastels.
Some people online consider the Holbeins to be the very best oil pastels out there while others think they overhyped and I just think they are really good. What you prefer and consider best depends so much on your type of work, the colors you use, your environment, humidity levels etc so it will vary greatly and you may disagree with me so take everything I say with a grain of salt.
When I first tried them I wasn’t overly impressed with them, I expected to be almost blown away but I wasn’t. They didn’t feel that special to me and kinda similar to Neopastel, which I use regularly. I wasn’t fond of their square shape since I prefer round shapes to create a tip (as if they were pencils) but I’ve since gotten used to it and having several corners to draw details with can be handy.
I put Holbein oil pastels together with Neopastel because I treat them the same way and their consistency is quite similar. I used to prefer Neopastel mostly because I got them first and once I get used to something I’m not always open to change but I have to say that Holbein are at least just as great as Neopastel. (Mungyo Gallery are also in this category for me and a lot more affordable but unfortunately I can’t find them open stock anywhere).
There’s one aspect however that makes them better in my opinion and that is that they don’t smell! Neopastel are quite stinky but Holbein aren’t and I really appreciate it. That’s something that unless you have a picky and sensitive nose won’t probably bother you but I feel the need to point it out, I can’t be the only one!
The only real con that they have is that they don’t come with a wrapper but I’ve also gotten used to it and it doesn’t bother me anymore, it’s actually quite convenient sometimes and I’ve even started to remove the wrapper off my Neopastels as well! But if this is an issue for you it’s possible to wrap them with some washi tape.
Something else to note is that depending on the type of paper that you draw or paint on Holbein oil pastels can leave some residue. It doesn’t really happen on sanded surfaces like the paper I typically use so it’s not a problem for me.
Palette
They have some very beautiful and very useful shades! I believe they offer 100 colors, at least where I get them from and I wish I got some of them sooner!
A few of the colors that I have are a bit less opaque than others when applied to regular papers like this gray one but it’s not noticeable when I paint on sanded paper or Pastelmat. In those papers they are opaque and consistent, giving the painting a very cohesive look. They also have great lightfastness overall.
Here are the swatches of all my Holbein oil pastels in case it helps you:
Toxicity
I appreciate the fact that Holbein makes easily available the MSDS or safety data sheet on their website, you can find it here. They are non toxic or as nontoxic as art supplies can get. Just don’t eat them! The use of gloves or a protective barrier cream is not necessary but I usually put on gloves because of how messy oil pastels are even though Holbeins aren’t nearly as much as others. I try to reuse my gloves as much as possible so it’s not as wasteful.
Price and sets
I don’t really like to give exact numbers on how much any art supplies cost because it can vary wildly depending on where you live but they are about the same or slightly more expensive than Neopastel where I buy them from. They aren’t cheap by any means but they last a long time so to me they are worth it.
You can get them individually or get them in sets of 15, 25 and 100. I prefer to choose my colors because there are some that I very rarely use so it’s more useful to me to pick them one by one.
I hope it helps. Have a nice day!
