An Ugly Book for Ugly Times Journal (December 2023-July 2025)

I bought a mystery 3-pack of Ugly Books and this is the first I worked in. I dragged my feet with finishing this one, partly due to not wanting to journal much but I also struggled with the orange paper until I got some new acrylic markers around May 2025. Most pages were created with acrylic markers and ink. The pages are organized in the order they appear in the journal.

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Art journal cover that says, An ugly book for ugly times. An illustrated art journal page with a portrait of a colorful but frustrated woman with four eyes, underneath her are the words, All I do is understand. Reference photo is nat1101 on the Museum by Sktchy app. A mixed media art journal page witn an illustration of a woman levitating against a shiny blue background with gold doodled stars, and a quote by artist Leonora Carrington. Reference is caily_calabrese on the Museum by Sktchy app. A mixed media art journal page with an illustration about the unveiling of The Devil in All Elite Wrestling - Adam Cole bay-bay! A mixed media art journal page with an illustration of a blue woman summoning a blue demon with magic. There are doodles of weeds in the foreground. A mixed media art journal page with a messy quote about embarrassment from a Sophie Truax, a puppeteer I stumbled across on Instagram. A mixed media art journal page with an illustrated portrait of musician Julie Christmas singing into a mic while tangled in fiber optics and her Supernatural lyrics scrawled underneath. A mixed media art journal page with drawings of dialog boxes displaying the error, The internet sucks now, with the word Delete underneath and a cursor arrow hovering over it. On the right side is an illustration of a woman screaming while holding her face next to the words, creating in an endless void. Reference is ronyniks on the Museum by Sktchy app. An illustrated art journal page with a poem by Ella Robinson and an illustration of a bloody ear with some thoughts. An illustrated art journal page with small quick portraits from the Museum by Sktchy app. The left side has a theme of leopard prints and the right side has a theme of reading. A mixed media art journal page with illustrations of women looking stressed, surrounded by quotes and lyrics by Foo Fighters and Stone Sour about fear. There are collaged shapes and doodles surrounding the drawings. A mixed media art journal page with illustrations of a blue jay feather and a sleeping dog. There is handwriting about it being the worst month and doodles surrounding the drawings. A mixed media art journal page with various weird illustrations and stamps reminiscent of the 90s including references to Daria and a furby as an earring. A mixed media art journal page with drawings of crowns crossed out on the left side and the right side has a rainbow and hearts with the words, Pro science, pro choice, pro immigrant, pro queer, pro trans, pro facts, pro wrestling. A mixed media art journal page with a quote about plants by AEW wrestler Hangman Adam Page on collaged leaves and an illustration of Hangman sat in front of Swerve's burning house with the words, Hangman did nothing wrong above him. A mixed media art journal page with an illustration of a purple woman embracing a skeleton, with lyrics by Dax Riggs above them. A mixed media art journal page with an illustration of a sad woman with her eyes closed, holding the moon above her head. The words, feeling the crushing weight of everyone's grief is on the left. A mixed media art journal page with testers for an archives tarot deck I created for an outreach event at work. It includes illustrations of ghosts and the triple moon goddess symbol. A mixed media art journal page with an illustration of a vampire woman smoking next to a stamped bat and altered images of old-timey vampires. The background is a mixture of collage material and a monoprinted background created with a gel plate. A mixed media art journal spread about a variety of subjects including a portrait of Kathleen Hanna after reading her memoir Rebel Girl, a drawing of The Hierophant tarot card with a 2025 prediction, a drawing of a Cybertruck on fire next to the words day one foreshadowing, a sticky note doodle of a woman holding her hand up in an L shape, and the words do not obey in advance in the middle of the spread. A mixed media art journal spread with a portrait of David Lynch after news of his death with quotes from his book, Catching the Big Fish, that I read soon after. A mixed media art journal spread with a pet portrait of and silly information about our newly inherited dog, such as her trying to communicate with me telepathically and pooping on the floor. A mixed media art journal page with an illustration of a pink haired person with huge white rimmed sunglasses and a smiley face on the left lens. Next to them is an abstract collage of monoprinted torn paper, upside down smiley faces, and stripey blue doodles. Reference is nectarine on the Museum by Sktchy app. A mixed media art journal illustration of a woman drinking from a can against a background of a monoprinted can and ring pulls I created with a gel plate. The words next to her say, I need a drink... or ten. Reference is brooklynjaime on the Museum by Sktchy app. A mixed media art journal page with an illustration of AEW wrestler Brody King wearing an abolish ICE shirt at Grand Slam Mexico, and silly blind contour drawings of AEW wrestlers Toni Storm, Samoa Joe, and Kyle O'Reilly. A mixed media art journal illustration of the cover of the novel Tender is the Flesh that I read in April/May next to a quote about human behaviour by Sylvia Plath.
Keywords: acrylic markers, acrylic paint, adam cole, aew, all elite wrestling, america, anatomical heart, archives, arson, art journal, artist, bat, blind contour drawing, blood, blue jay, books, brody king, bull, can, collage, colorful, daria, darkness, david lynch, dax riggs, delete, devil, dog art, doodles, dragon, drawing, drinking, ear, ella robinson, embarrassment, empathy, endless void, eyes, fear, feather, female portrait, fire, foo fighters, foreshadowing, furby, gel plate, gel print, ghosts, grief, hangman adam page, hierophant, horns, illustration, ink, internet, intrigue, julie christmas, kathleen hanna, kyle o'reilly, leaves, leonora carrington, leopard print, levitate, lyrics, male portrait, mask, memoir, mixed media, monoprinting, moon, moth, no kings, pet portrait, plants, poetry, politics, portrait, post it note, pro-choice, progressive, quote, reading, rebel girl, ring pull, rip, sadness, samoa joe, scared, screaming, silly, skeleton, sketchbook, sketches, skull, sleeping, smiley face, smoking, space, stamp, sticky notes, stone sour, sunglasses, sylvia plath, tarot, telepathy, tender is the flesh, the 90s, tired, tongue, toni storm, torn paper collage, traditional art, ugh, understand, vampires, villain, visual journal, vocalist, wales, weeds, weird art, witchy, wrestler, wrestling