One of my absolute favourite mediums to use in my journals is watercolour. I get asked a lot of questions about whether you need to have watercolour paper in your journal and for different ideas about how you can use this product. In this blog post, I am going to share 5 of my favourite ways of using watercolour, depending on the type of paper in your journal.
Add Drips & Splashes
Just about any paper will cope well with light watercolour drips and splashes. It's a really fun and quick way to add some colour to your page. These pages were created in my altered book and the paper held up really well.
Create a Watercolour Background for your Quote
Another one of my favourite ways to use watercolour is to let some colours blend together and use it as a background for a quote. It's the perfect way to make your quote stand out and you can tie the colours in with the other decorations you use on your page. The paper in this journal is Tomoe River paper which copes beautifully with watercolour paint. It will wrinkle when you first get it wet, but then dries out almost completely flat.
Add Elements Created on Watercolour Paper
If you are worried about whether your journal pages can cope with the paint, you could always create your elements on watercolour paper and then glue them onto your pages. For this leaf, I painted my design onto Khadi paper which you can tear to leave lovely rough edges. It's a really great way to add watercolour to your journal, regardless of the paper inside it.
Watercolour Illustrations
If you are confident that your journal copes well with watercolour, then you could add an illustration covering pretty much the whole page. I used a compass to draw out two circles and mirrored the effect on the opposite page. This journal has really thick paper 160 gsm paper and comes from London Gifties. I add lots of watercolour and different mediums to this journal as I know it can handle just about anything! (At London Gifties, you can use the code HELEN at checkout for a free roll of washi tape with your order.)
Illustrate your Days
My final fun idea that I'm sharing today is using watercolour to illustrate your days. Whilst I love adding photos to my journal pages, it's also really wonderful to add a quick illustration instead. My daily journal has Tomoe River paper in and is the perfect place to add a quick painting at the end of the week.
As for my favourite watercolour paints, the ones I have loved and used for the longest time are Kuretake Gansai Tambi. I've also recently been introduced to another brand, which you can find out about here.
Some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links, meaning that I earn a small commission if you chose to make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
I really hope you've enjoyed this blog post and that it has given you some fun new ideas for using watercolour in your journals, Helen x
Hello Helen, My name is Claire Mallet, I work for a parisian publisher and I have an idea of a collaboration with you. I have been following you for 2 years on Patreon and I love your work, your style, your incredible creativity and your generosity. If you are interested, could you please write to me at this adress: kassidy.mallet@gmail.com? I thank you in advance and I do hope that we will work together! Have a nice day and thank you for your new post on your blog!
Love these pages!! Thank you for these ideas, Helen.
The quality of the paper of the journal I am using now is really not great. The solution I came up with was to glue two pages together, so it can hold a bit more wash. Not ideal still, but it was a gift, and I treasure it dearly. I just try to make the best of it. Also, this allows me to reduce the amount of pages and I will be able to get a new journal with thicker paper much faster :)
Thanks Helen, this was super helpful as my journal doesn’t handle watercolour well at all. You’ve given me lovely ideas! Cheryl x.