Visual journaling supplies are highly personal.
When you first start journaling, we recommend starting with cheap supplies. The kind you can pick up at a drug store.
Journaling is a highly adaptive practice, and it will take awhile to figure out how you visual journal. What size journal works best in your life? Do you like markers or colored pencils?
Over time, you may want to upgrade the tools you are using, and when you do, here’s our shortlist of things we use daily:
Favorite journal
Anything can become your visual journal notebook, a three ring binder, a spiral, a blank book…but we definitely have a favorite.
The Leuchtturm1917 with 120g paper
The Leuchtturm1917 comes in a wide variety of sizes, paper types, and covers. We love the amenities such as page numbers, a preprinted index, double bookmarks, and stickers for archiving. The blank version is our favorite but you can get them with dotted pages which offer guidelines without being distracting. The notebook lies flat when open. There are multiple sizes, so as you research, be aware that A4 is about the size of US letter paper, A5 is the size of a folded sheet of notebook paper, and A6 is approximately passport size. (Our personal favorite is the A5 which strikes a good balance between enough-room-to-think-on-paper and easy-to-carry.)
Get the A5 Leuchtturm1917 notebook on Amazon.
Favorite Pens
Fountain Pen
The Kaweco Sport is in our “go bag” because of it’s small profile when closed. When ordering, pay attention to the nib size. We prefer a medium nib, but a fine nib creates thinner lines which performs better for those with smaller, more precise handwriting. Because we use watercolors in our journal, we skip the Kaweco ink cartridges and use a converter paired with Noodlers Ink (black) which is water resistant when it dries. If this sounds complicated, you can learn more about how to get started with a fountain pen with our Ultimate Guide for Beginners.
Recently for daily use, we’ve picked up an Ellington fountain pen with a medium nib. It’s heavier than the Kaweco Sport which feels really nice for writing. And the way it is packaged makes it a great journaling gift.
PITT Artist Pens
Because we use watercolors and brush markers, having pens with waterfast ink matters to prevent smearing. We like this set by Faber Castell because it includes a Small (0.3), Fine (0.5), Medium (0.7), and Brush pen which can vary your line thickness. This is highly useful to differentiate between headings, subheadings, and plain text.
Get a 4 pack with different sizes on Amazon.
Markers, watercolors, and colored pencils
Tombow Dual Brush Pen Art Markers
The Tombow Dual Brush Pen Art Markers are our personal favorite for performance and affordability. They are blendable, create sweeping strokes, and can take normal journaling pages into works of art. Plus, they come in a variety of pallets.
(Note: YouTube videos for ideas on how to use Tombow Dual Brush Pens are addictive. You’ve been warned.)
Get Tombow dual brush markers at Amazon.
Tombow Dual Brush Pen in Gray
Having a gray brush marker allows you to add dimension to your journal. The simplest of doodles given a quick gray shadow ups the game, and using gray lines for page separators, underlining, or callout boxes can really make the black ink on the page pop.
Get a single gray Tombow dual brush marker on Amazon
Winsor and Newton Cotman Watercolors
We are in love with the Winsor and Newton 12-Color portable watercolor palette. It is so easy to throw in your bag to carry with you and the brush holds water. You truly can take it anywhere and the quality of the paints make it super fun to use.
Get the Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolor palette on Amazon.
Prismacolor Colored Pencils
Once you’ve used them, you’ll know why they are worth the extra money. The pencils lay down a lot of color on the paper and unlike markers, won’t bleed through the page. These are artist quality and are light years ahead of the drug store version colored pencils.
Purchase a set of Prismacolor colored pencils on Amazon.
Crayola Crayons in a Cigarette Case
When I first started carrying crayons in my purse, the cardboard box they came in didn’t hold up, resulting in a lot of broken crayon sadness. Then, I discovered cigarette cases. They come in a variety of styles and are the perfect size for carrying crayons, this slim design is my personal favorite and Crayola is my favorite brand.
Select the slim cigarette case on Amazon.
Other accessories that make visual journaling enjoyable
Serene River 15″ Tall Pen Pencil Marker Organizer Holder for Desk
I love this tall marker organizer holder for my desk. It’s the perfect place to park my Tombow brush pens and my watercolor pencils. Best of all, I can stand it on the corner of my desk or lay it flat depending on where I’m working.
Get the Serene River 15″ Tall Marker Organizer at Amazon
Pen Loops
One of the easiest ways to keep your pen with your journal is to use a pen loop. It’s an elastic loop which sticks out of the journal that adheres to the back of your journal via a tab with peel & stick adhesive.
Volin Crik has a pack of 5 on Amazon.
Kokuyo NeoCritz Transformer Pencil Case
The Kokuyo NeoCritz Transformer Pencil Case works like a standard zipper pencil case, except that you can stand it on its end and fold the sides down so that it fans out all of your pencils making them easy to get to.
Pick up the Kokuyo NeoCritz Transformer Pencil Case on Amazon.
Magnetic Ruler by Nakabayashi
This magnetic ruler by Nakabayashi is such a great journaling accessory. It folds over a page like a bookmark and creates a large straight edge when laying out pages.
Find the Nakabayashi Magnetic Bookmark at JetPens.
Our Favorite Books on Visual Journaling
The Simple Guide to Visual Journaling (even if you aren’t an artist) by Cathy Hutchison
This colorful book is designed to get people from zero to visual journaling quickly. This book is geared for people who aren’t artists (yet). It teaches the basics on page layouts, pictograms, ideagrams and gives instructions on how to use the techniques.
Get the Simple Guide to Visual Journaling on Amazon.
Trust Me You Can Draw by Jesse Arnold
This is by far one of our favorite books for increasing your visual vocabulary. If you are a compulsive doodler but think you “can’t draw” this book is perfect. (Note, the style is on the “cute” side. If that isn’t your jam check out “100 Daily Drawings by Holger Nils Pohl.)”
Get Trust Me You Can Draw on Amazon.
The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll
The Bullet Journal method is a game-changer for people living fast-paced lives who want to get organized and feel more connected to their lives. I’d been bullet journaling for awhile when the book came out and still found it filled in some blanks for me and was simply an enjoyable read.
Pick up The Bullet Journal Method on Amazon.
These are our favorite visual journaling supplies. We would love to hear about yours. Drop us an email via the contact page.