Comments about Holbein Charcoal Holder:

I bought this charcoal holder because I've been drawing a lot with vine and willow charcoal lately and thought it would be nice to have that extra control over the sticks without having to park my hand on the paper (an invitation to disaster, as anyone who draws with charcoal soon discovers).

I think the concept is great, but the execution leaves something to be desired. Charcoal sticks small enough to fit easily into the holder were too small for it to grip. Sticks that looked big enough for it to grip proved difficult to push inside, and once in they wobbled. I tried inserting a stick of compressed white charcoal; it was a little too big, and so while inserting it I watched the holder shave a nice little pile of white charcoal off.

Even if there were a "magic size" that worked perfectly (there wasn't), such a holder would have limited usefulness as charcoal sticks have infinite little variations in diameter. It's no good having a holder that would only work on two out of a batch of fifteen sticks. A holder needs to be able to adjust somewhat to different thicknesses if it's to be useful with charcoal sticks, IMHO.

The problem is the way the holder grips. The "working" part of the holder curves in, so whatever you put in there is held (if it is the right size to be held) only by the lip edge. When I drew, there was an inevitable wobble. I tried wrapping sticks in tissue and in foam to get them to seat better, with limited success. I even tried a kneaded eraser, which helped but not to my satisfaction, and then had an interesting time getting it all back out with my fingernail. I was tempted to glue in tiny pads of foam, but remembered that if it didn't work I wouldn't be able to return the item, which was fairly expensive.

Let me add that the product feels like it is solidly constructed and would probably last a long time. It just doesn't grip the charcoal very well.

It did seem to grip the white charcoal stick better it did than the smaller vine/willow charcoal sticks, but there was still some wobble. I don't know if "wobble" is normal and/or expected for charcoal holders, but I don't like it. It feels like I'm drawing with a jointed pencil.

I'm honestly surprised, as I don't think I've ever had to return anything I bought from Blick before. I would love to try other charcoal holders but it seems this is the only one Blick currently offers.