Hi again! It’s Hayley here (@hayleyremdeart on Instagram), and today I want give some inspiration for different theme ideas for your blackout dot grid journal. Black paper bullet journals are super popular right now, but it can sometimes feel a little intimidating. Therefore, I am here to show you five fun ideas for you to try, and provide even more ideas that would be perfect for the black page notebooks!

Essentials for a Blackout Journal:

• Archer and Olive Blackout Journal – As always, it will be no surprise to you that this is my pick. The lovely and thick pages have no bleeding or ghosting, so you get a clean start for every project spread! Also, it means you can decorate the spread without worrying about it.
• Acrylographs – Amazingly opaque on the Blackout pages.
• Decorative Touch – See this blog for an extensive list on other mediums that work well on the black pages!

 Remember, you can now even use my affiliate code HAYLEY10 to save money at archerandolive.com. But anyway, lets see some themes!

Theme 1: Bubbles

One of my favourite themes in the Blackout journal was a bubble theme. The bubbles were really fun to create, and they really looked like they popped off the page.

You can find a full tutorial on how to create this theme here.

Theme 2: Dot Work Swirls

A simple but effective theme on the black pages is anything using white ink!

The white Acrylograph is super opaque, and looks striking against the black. One of my favourite themes using the white Acrylograph was these dot work swirls.

I did this theme in December, so I added snowflakes to the swirls. However, you could just do the swirls or replace the snowflakes with another doodle such as stars.

Theme 3: Galaxy

A galaxy theme is always amazing, but on the black pages it’s just phenomenal!

Between the vibrant colours and the striking white stars, the galaxies really pop on the black pages.

Galaxies are also really fun and easy to paint for all artist levels!

Theme 4: Landscapes

One thing I always love to paint is landscapes. I wasn’t sure if this would work on the blackout pages, but I actually ended up loving it more!

To do these themes, you can paint directly in the journal with gouache. However, as my favourite medium is watercolour, I love painting on watercolour paper (especially from the Archer and Olive Watercolour Journal) and gluing it into my journal.

I have done a few themes in this way and I always love creating and using them!

Theme 5: Fire

Finally, another theme that really pops on the black pages is fire!

I created this page using gouache, and it performed exceptionally well. The yellow needed two coats to be fully opaque but I really love how it turned out.

Video

See this YouTube video for how I set up each theme!

More Ideas

Finally, download this printable for 15 more theme ideas that will really pop on the blackout pages!

Hopefully I’ve given you some tips and inspired you to try out one of these themes in your blackout journal! If you have, I would love to see any spreads you make, so tag me on Instagram (@hayleyremdeart) and use #hayleyremdeinspired to get the chance to get your recreation featured in my stories!