The Bullet Journal As An Art Medium

At Sarah Clarity Studios, we try very hard not to post any images of products or even our personal IP art, because we understand that everyone has a different style, and we do not want to make anyone feel left out or like they don’t belong.

If you are a professional, or you aim to be one, it is important for you to not feel a knee-jerk reaction to what is posted if you are a client.

If you don’t draw anime, and all you see is anime everywhere on the website, then you begin to wonder, right? It’s okay if it’s Sarah’s IP and her gallery, but other than that, I am here for me and my IP, which is X.

Bullet journals are the same. People have opinions, and it is best to just tell everyone things straight without making them feel left out or isolated.

As of now, we have a rather limited choice of what type of bullet journals we can use. They are limited, and you can go with generic or brand. That’s it. The paper types are limited, and all of them have dots, etc., etc.

The important thing is that you can find one that fits your needs.

Note that most bullet journals are not meant for wet mediums, so watercolor and acrylics are a hard no if you are a professional watercolor artist. Stick with your watercolor sketchbooks if you want to display your skills!

The same thing goes for Copic Markers or any other type of alcohol marker. You may poke in online and see older bullet journal influencers claiming that a certain brand of bullet journal just doesn’t stand up to Copic markers, and as you already know from your profession, very few paper types hold up to Copics in the first place; bullet journals are not meant to hold that type of marker. Period.

The issue of bleeding or ghosting is a matter of your preference and your decision for how much of what you did on one page is able to be seen on the other side of the page once you flip it.

Provided you use brush pens of lighter hue, you will find that the ghosting is minimal or non-existent. If you use dark hues, or a black marker, you may see that on the other side of the page.

It is up to you if you want skinnier pages with say 80 GSM or if you want thicker ones at 120 GSM or 160 GSM, etc. Sometimes we prefer the skinnier pages, so it is all what you would like and not what people claim on the internet.

There is no need to do a pen test on the back of your bullet journal pages unless you really want to see it. Most of us generally just try our idea on the page, and if it works, it works, and if it doesn’t work, then better luck next time.

Bullet journal covers are limited by brands or knock-offs. The most basic ones that I tend to prefer myself are black or plain covers, but a good number of other bullet journal brands will have a small graphic or pattern on the cover.

It is predominantly for the female customer, so if you’re a guy and you prefer things plain like me, even though I’m a girl, look for bullet journals from either Leuchtturm1917 or Bullet Journal (which was created in collaboration with Leuchtturm). You will find something to your liking there, as I consistently do.

You can tape or paste images into your bullet journal, however things get bulky quite quickly, so keep it minimal, unless you are okay with a bulging journal. Collaging will not succeed if you do it all the time in a bullet journal.

Managers! If you want, you can do a test run and get your team a bullet journal to try out if you want. There isn’t much to say about them except they have dots instead of lines and the pages aren’t blank like sketchbook paper. I would recommend getting your team generic bullet journals from Bulletjournal.com, probably just black. Unless everyone likes whatever color is available at the time you go to purchase. If by any chance, something is sold out on bulletjournal.com, you can always go to Leuchtturm1917, and they also sell those Bullet Journals, you just have to find them in the top dropdown menu. That is another option.

My friends, if you happen to not be an artist, but are part of a company that creates an IP, or even if you are a student at this time, you can still try out a bullet journal and see if you like it. Sometimes we think differently when we see a dotted page versus when we see a lined or blank page, so do not think that this is just something for artists only! Consider it if you’d like.

Yes, the price is higher. That’s why you invest in one to see if you like it, just like we try out other sketchbook brands to see if we like one over another. If you don’t like it, you can try a different brand. If you just don’t like the bullet journal, then retreat! Back to your original favorite medium!

I would say that whatever you decide, the bullet journal is worth the consideration. Please know that the bullet journal community at large always tries to cater to their people, and if you come as a large group, then your requests will most certainly be taken into consideration, and we may be seeing bigger sized bullet journals (which current community members have been asking for already), or ones that have page thicknesses to your liking, etc. Please do not think that what you see right now is the final stop for bullet journaling in general. They are the first stop. You are the second.

And now, for the reason why bullet journals are a good medium for art! It lets you design your pages at will, however you’d like, with a dotted page to guide you where the dots disappear as you work and when you look at the completed page. They are very forgiving, very accepting, and very versatile. When you present from a bullet journal, things look a lot more professional and impressive, even if your handwriting or art isn’t the best. The fact that you present from a bullet journal makes you look that much more professional, because you have already formatted your page for the people you are sharing with.