Hi everyone! This is Bea, lettering artist and journaling lover, and I’m with the Archer & Olive Ambassador Team this year! You can find me as @bealettering on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Bucket lists are a great motivation when you are planning (and saving!) for the holidays. They help you keep track of the things you’d like to do, and they can go from big ones (like taking a cruise over the Mediterranean) to simple yet highly enjoyable things like trying a new ice cream flavor every month.
Illustrated bucket lists are perfect for double page spreads in travel journals, sketch notebooks, or just your everyday bullet journal. They are fun, full of color, and you don’t need advanced drawing skills: you can simply doodle each element and use a limited color palette to make them look amazing. Let’s create one together!
Supplies I used to create the illustrated bucket list
- A journal or notebook. I’m using my A5 Everyday Collection journal Keeper of Bees in teal (I’ll never get tired of the cover design!)
- Paint pens, such as Acrylographs
- A notepad to write down your list
- A black fineliner - Monograph 03
- A soft pencil for sketching
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Define your theme and color palette
Summer is going to be the umbrella theme for our bucket list this time but try to get a bit more specific. Are you travelling somewhere new? Do you have a big event coming up? Are you meeting friends who you haven’t seen in a long time? Nail it down a little bit to make it truly yours!
Then, think about the color palette. The color palette will set the mood of your page and your theme should help you get started with this. If you have absolutely no clue, try Googling the place you are going or the keywords that inspire your list. Do you see any predominant colors in the images? Great! Pick two or three and move to the next step.
We tend to think that the more colors, the more interesting our drawings look like (or maybe we just need want all the colors!) But, actually, keeping a limited color palette helps us keeping everything more cohesive. That doesn’t mean that you have to stick to two or three pens: you can play with different values of each color (that is, brighter and darker tones of each color). And of course, you can add tiny elements or accents in different colors, but trust me and stick to those 2 or 3 colors for the main elements of your illustrated list. You can thank me later 😜
The theme of my bucket list is French Riviera, so I’m using blues, sand-earthy yellows/ochres and a touch of fuchsia.
Write down your bucket list ideas and select your favorites
Next step is to write down all the things we want to include in our list. Think big and small, add things you want to feel and experience, people you want to meet. Just write down anything that crosses your mind. Then, narrow it down to 6-9 things. Trying to draw more than that is going to be tricky in an A5 notebook, but feel free to add more if you are using a bigger size.
Now you may find yourself thinking: “I have no idea how I’m going to illustrate this”, but that’s ok. You can leave out the ones that you find too difficult to represent in a drawing, but you can also choose to illustrate some and just write the rest. Looking for doodles or icons online is a perfect way to get different references that you can later adapt to your own style, and they don’t have to be an exact representation of what it says on your list: you can represent a cruise with a lovely boat and a sunset, which is easier and cuter to draw!
Also, write down next to each item which color or main colors you are going to use. That will help you arrange them in the page in a balanced way in the next step.
Create your summer bucket list layout
Now that you know what you want to draw and the colors you are going to use, it’s time to start doodling!
Placing your elements on the double page can be tricky. I normally look at the colors I’m going to use for each one, so I don’t place many items with the same colors too close together, to keep a visual balance.
Another thing that helps me is to draw circles or boxes where I want to draw each element, so I can easily set the layout and then fill each shape with the corresponding doodle. This time, I’m not only going to sketch boxes for the layout, but I’m also going to use them as frames for stamps. I think that stamps are a perfect fit for summer, because I often send postcards when I’m away 😊 Feel free to do the same!
Once your layout is ready, start filling each box with small doodles: an ice cream cone, a boat in the open sea, a lovely sunset, bicycles, cocktails, a bikini set, the Eiffel Tower or the pyramids of Giza (hey, we are allowed to dream big!). Keep it as simple as possible and don’t stress too much over a single drawing. I usually write a few words under each drawing to keep it clear, so you can always stick to the basics when something feels too difficult to draw.
For instance, “make meaningful connections” can be represented with just a group of hearts.
Color it up with Acrylograph pens
And last but not least, we are going to add some color.
Use the colors in your color palette to lay down a first layer, painting the main/bigger elements in your sketch. Allow the acrylic paint to dry before adding a new layer, to make sure that the lines stay defined and the colors don’t blend into each other.
A notebook with 160 gsm pages comes in handy when you are using acrylic pens, so the pages hold the paint without ghosting or bleeding into the page behind. The 0.7 mm tip of the Acrylograph pens allows for the tiniest details, and you can also use a black or darker color to write the texts.
Remember: always start with the bigger shapes and progressively add details on top, using contrasting colors.
Connection with other pages:
My lovely co-ambassadors created this amazing bucket lists, so you can check them if you need extra inspiration!
Download your templates and watch the video
If you’d like to practice coloring these doodles, you can download the free printable template below and use your favorite colors.
You can also check the video where I draw some of the doodles step by step and follow along!
Share your summer bucket list on social media and tag @archerandolive and @bealettering using the hashtags #AOShare and #archerandolive.
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