Hey there, Friends! Sarah here from the Archer & Olive Ambassador team and SHEdesignsKC over on Instagram. Today, let’s chat about doodles! Are you a fan of doodles? I am, but I wasn’t always. I used to be intimidated by the thought of doodling. What do I even draw? What if I can’t draw? Well, you know what helps you improve at something you want to get better at? You know. Let’s say it together: PRACTICE!! I started incorporating a monthly Doodle A Day spread in my bullet journal and, y’all, I am crazy about this spread!! Not only is it a space to practice art and creativity, it is a space to keep little memories about the everyday things that happen in our lives. These spreads are MY FAVORITE to look back on in my old journals. And my two little boys love these spreads too. They love to look at all my doodles and exclaim over the things they remember happening. And, bonus, I can see so clearly how much my doodles have improved over the years! 

Years ago I discovered a “Doodle a day” prompt list and decided it might be a fun challenge. Each day had an assigned prompt to doodle. I added this to my bullet journal and had so much fun with it! I decided to create a spread where I just picked something that stood out to me each day, and draw a little doodle of it. Sometimes it’s lettering, sometimes it’s a little drawing, whatever I want to use to capture that particular moment. I decide what I’m going to doodle for the day based on what stands out to me most from that day. Did I get some great news? Doodle it! Did I eat an amazing meal? Doodle it! Did one of my kiddos do something totally cute and charming that I want to remember forever? Doodle it! Did I spend what felt like the whole day doing laundry? Doodle it! It doesn’t have to be grand or very special. I generally use my bullet journal to list out tasks, appointments, and events, but the extra special to me is seeing some of the detail in the middle of the mundane. That’s where my Doodle A Day spreads come into play.

SUPPLIES

The supplies needed to set up a Doodle A Day spread are fairly minimal. You may want to use any of the following:

• Journal (I use an A5 Archer & Olive notebook)
• Ruler
• Fine Liner
• Various colored pens (I prefer Archer & Olive Calliographs)
• Pencil and eraser

If you’re snagging any materials from Archer & Olive, use my affiliate code, SHEDESIGNSKC10, to 10% on your purchase! Savings for you and a little commission for me. :)

TYPES OF SPREADS

There are two basic ways that I have set up my Doodle A Day spreads. I have a favorite, but both are effective. One method is to create boxes (or circles, etc) for each day of the month. You would simply fill each box with your daily doodle. This type of spread is quite clean looking and a bit more minimalist in nature. These are the spreads I started with when I did my first Doodle A Day spreads. The other set up is a collage style. It’s just filling up the whole page with doodles! I find this one the more visually interesting and fun. Let’s chat about how to set up each style!

DOODLE A DAY BOXES

If a clean and more precise look is what you’re after, this is what I would recommend for your Doodle A Day spread. Start by deciding where you want your title or heading to be on your page, then pick a good size for your boxes. I find six by six dot grid spaces work well for me in an A5 notebook. And we love a month with 30 days so we can create a spread with an even number of boxes! Haha! But you can’t win ‘em all! Grab a ruler (or freehand it!) and draw out your boxes for each day. You may also like to add the number for the day of the month. That’s it! Your spread is ready to go! I created a free printable Doodle A Day spread you can use, if you’d prefer to just stick it in your journal and skip to the doodling! 

DOODLE A DAY COLLAGE

Oh! My favorite! Have you heard of sketchnotes before? This style is definitely giving sketchnote vibes! This spread looks very effortless, but for me, it takes a tiny bit of planning to make sure I have ample space for each daily doodle. Again, start by choosing where you want your title or heading. Go ahead and draw it in, or divide off that area. Next you’ll want to grab a pencil and start creating some spaces for each daily doodle. Use a light hand, because you’ll want to erase these lines later! I just do blob shapes. Nothing too precise. I like to vary the size quite a bit - some spaces are large and many are smaller. As you go, count each space making sure you have the appropriate number for the month. And this is how you’ll leave your spread! You could go ahead and number your spaces, but I like to fly by the seat of my pants and each day I pick a random spot I want to place my doodle in. Then I fill in the number of the day of the month close by, so I know which day that doodle represents. 

DECIDING WHAT TO DOODLE

So what are you going to doodle? I prefer to fill in my daily doodle at the end of the day, and I spend just a moment thinking over my day and what was going on. I just pick something that stands out about my day. So how was your day? Was your coffee tasting amazing? Maybe draw your coffee. Did you spend some time outside? Maybe you’ll doodle the sun or a blue sky with clouds. Also enjoy looking at the pictures I took that day (if I took any), and sometimes I just doodle one of my pictures. I do have another printable resource available for you if you would prefer to work from a list of doodle prompts. Along with my blank spread printable, you can print off a list of 31 daily prompts and work from that. But however you get to your doodles, here’s the important thing about doodling - keep it quick and simple! Most of my doodles take me less than 3 minutes. They’re playful and a little messy and that’s okay! They’re not perfect replicas of the items or scenes I’m drawing, but you can generally tell what they are even without a ton of detail.

TIPS FOR VISUALLY INTERESTING PAGES

These spreads are, of course, yours to complete how you like, but here are some tips for creating spread that are pretty to look at once completed!

• Choose a color palette: This all comes down to personal preference really, but in my opinion, the best looking spreads have a limited color palette. The spread will be much more cohesive if you’re repeating colors instead of having a large array of colors. I like to choose about 5 or 6 colors at most. As you’re coloring your doodles, keep in mind that the things you color don’t have to be filled in with the color they actually are. Don’t limit yourself to reality! 

• Use black and white: Take advantage of using black and white! It can really pop! I almost always have black and gray as two of the colors within my limited palette. 

• If you’re using a collage style and you feel that your doodles too close together and you’re having trouble distinguishing one from another, use some simple shapes/elements to provide some separation. That could be a cloud shaped bubble, dashed lines, crosshatching, etc. 

• Vary lettering styles: If you’re incorporating lettering with your doodles, this is a really great place to experiment with different styles. Do some bubble letters, try some brush lettering, add drop shadows! Change up the size of your lettering too!                               

If you want a bit of doodle direction before you begin, check out my video:

Or there are plenty of great resources here on the Archer and Olive blog! I love this floral doodle tutorial! This memory doodle blog post is also fantastic - and not just because they doodled stroopwafels, which I’m OBSESSED with! Haha! 

I hope you’ve been inspired to create your own Doodle A Day spread as a fun pop of personality and creativity in your own bullet journal! I know you will enjoy looking back at what “past you” was up to, years from now. Not to mention, seeing the improvement in your art and development of your own style that come with the daily practice of creating some little doodles. If you create your own Doodle A Day spread, please be sure to tag me on Instagram so I can see what you do!! Also, tag @archerandolive so the whole team and community can see it too! Thanks for joining me and I’ll talk to y’all soon!