Hey crew, it’s Mark from @Menwhobullet on Instagram and Youtube. 

I started a motto for myself this year. “If I have the stationery, I’m going to use the stationery”. The same goes for art supplies. I have a habit of buying things and saving them. Usually for something special. But that special thing doesn’t always come around - so I’m starting to use what I have and incorporating it into my journal weekly pages.

Right now, I’m big on incorporating watercolor more into my bullet journal. I’m not big into painting illustrations or large bodies of works into my pages - instead, I like to use it as the fun to my functional and fun bullet journal approach. I wanted to share two of my favorite methods with you today and show you how I incorporate my favorite art medium into my own Bullet Journal.

To start, Archer and Olive standard journal paper are 160GSM. It takes on a lot and I love it for that. But you need to remember that while it’s thick, it’s not watercolor paper. So working with watercolor in these notebooks can be tricky, but with the right method, you can be really successful.

As a note, if you like watercolor, I’d definitely recommend the Archer and Olive Watercolor notebooks.

Materials:

Archer and Olive Dot Grid Notebook

Archer and Olive Watercolor Notebook

Watercolors (any will do).
I am using @Pepperconarts Watercolors in this post

Paint brush or Water Pen

Two Watercolor Methods To Try

Wet on Wet
The wet on wet method involves wetting your paper first and then adding wet paint to your paper. This gives the most organic look to your paper and paints since you can’t control it as well. Be careful of this method in a standard notebook. As I mentioned, too much water can cause the paper to buckle. It's not the end of the world, but if you like a nice flat page, the bucking might bother you. Also, wet on wet takes longer to dry. So it's not the best method if you are in a rush. An alternative you painting using this method in your notebook is to use it outside of your notebook, with watercolor paper, and paste or tape it into your journal. This way you get the best of both worlds.

Wet on Dry
This method is what I’d recommend using in your standard 160GSM A&O notebooks. This method uses wet paint on dry paper. This method creates a lot more control with your paint and also allows for cleaner edges. I love this method for adding details to pages, painting banners, or other illustrations in my bullet journal. I find that the journal paper handles this method very well. It is also a quicker dry time versus wet on wet. So you can work pretty quickly with this method.

One of my favorite thing about using a blank dot grid notebook for my Bullet Journal is that I have the opportunity to experiment and see what works best for me. So I say give each method a try and see what you like the best. I hope you have fun in the process of experimenting too.

Here's a quick video showing you how each method looks and how you can include it in your page designs.