Meet The Artist's Tools: Holbein Artist Materials

Rachel Huss
May 5
2 min read

Tubes of Holbein Artists' watercolor paints in various blues and greens. Lids with splashes of paint. Bright and colorful arrangement. — Image courtesy of Holbein Artist Materials.

For any artist, the first strike is the scariest part of creating their work. There is so much potential energy in that moment. The milliseconds before you cause contrast are both out of your hands and entirely your responsibility. One shift of the hand, or one second too early, can change how you view the now non-empty canvas. It takes bravery to create. You must have faith in your ability. You must believe that, somehow, your mistakes will only make your work better.

Hand holds a painting of an orca in water, next to a large pink watercolor tube. Background shows red leaves and art supplies display. — Image courtesy of Holbein Artist Materials.

When creating art, you want to have confidence in your tools—to trust they'll translate the picture in your mind into reality. In the art world, Holbein Artist Materials is your mind's Rosetta Stone. Its products help smoothly translate your thoughts into form. I spoke with Holbein Art Materials' Vice President and Owner, Matthew Hopper, to learn more about the company.

Bottles of colorful acrylic ink and markers arranged on a gray background, featuring labels with "ACRYLIC INK" text. — Image courtesy of Holbein Artist Materials.

Holbein Artist Materials Interivew

Colorful oil pastels scattered on a table beside vibrant green artwork of a landscape. A small photo of trees adds emphasis. — Image courtesy of Holbein Artist Materials.

1. How is Holbein Artist Materials different from other companies?

Holbein produces over 20 color lines, all of which are true professional grade. Most other fine art manufacturers make only 1-2 lines of color. For example, where most companies produce watercolor, acrylic, or oil paint, Holbein produces those three and many more!

Tubes of watercolor paint in orange, pink, blue, purple, and yellow arranged on a vivid floral painting with a red and green background. — Image courtesy of Holbein Artist Materials.

2. How does Holbein Artist Materials promote artistic expression?

Holbein has a great social media presence, and we feature artists and their work. We focus on many types of fine art, not just one style or type of artwork. With hundreds of colors across our many color lines, artists are encouraged to pick the colors that call to them, not just what other 'popular' artists recommend.

Watercolor swatches labeled with names like "Poppy Pink" and "Ocean Blue" on paper. A box of watercolor tubes is on the right. — Image courtesy of Holbein Artist Materials.

3. What are the quintessential Holbein Artist Materials products?

We are approaching our 50th year in North America. Holbein Artists' Watercolor has always been Holbein's mainstay or quintessential color line. More recently, our traditional Gouache and Acrylic Gouache have been very popular!

Three gouache paint tubes (Carmine, Magenta, Yellow) on a vibrant red and yellow backdrop, with splattered white paint. Caps off. — Image courtesy of Holbein Artist Materials.

4. What is the future of the company?

Holbein has been and will continue to be at the forefront of manufacturing and color production. We expect that to continue to ring true as Holbein consistently strives to develop better and more vibrant colors for generations of artists to come.