Like beauty, there are a number of ways people define the word ugly. How do you define what's ugly? Explore this in your art journal.

Few of us like thinking about what is ugly, but there are times when defining this word cannot be avoided. For example, many feel war is ugly, as well as other forms of violence. There are also instances where people define the word ugly as those who have a negative attitude, or those who follow poor business practices.

As you can see, the word ugly does not necessarily have anything to do with a person’s appearance, a thing’s appearance, or the outer appearance of anything for that matter. How do you define the word ugly? Explore this definition in the pages of your art journal.

For this art journal prompt, you will need the following materials:

• Art journal
• Waxed paper
• Heavy-duty glue stick
• Newspapers
• Current event magazines
• Catalogs
• Scissors
• Ballpoint pen
• Sharpies
• Watercolor paint
• Paintbrushes
• Small container of water

Follow these simple instructions for completing this art journal prompt:

1. Open your art journal to the first blank page spread. Because watercolor paint is being used, it is necessary to place a piece of waxed paper behind each page in this spread. Wash over both pages in the page spread with a solid color, or with a mottled color appearance. You may also wish to make an “ugly” color wash.
2. While the page spread dries, flip through the newspaper, magazines, and catalogs. Cut out every element from these materials that accurately conveys your personal definition of the word ugly. This can range from pictures, to text, to full-length articles.
3. When the page spread is dried completely, create a collage with the items cut from the reading material you selected. Be sure to leave some blank areas.
4. Use the ballpoint pen to write out your experiences with the word ugly. These could be various thoughts about the clippings the collage was created from. This could also be memories of how ugly has impacted your life in various ways. It could also be about how you may be able to change ugly things in your life.
5. With the sharpie, create doodles, texts, and drawings depicting your personal definition of ugly. You could also scribble over the entire page spread in various areas as a way of making them ugly. This is completely up to you.

Repeat this art journal prompt on as many pages as necessary to journal out your personal definition of the word ugly. Do not worry about if the pages are pretty or how a potential audience may receive them if viewed. This art journal prompt is merely an exercise in thinking about the opposite of beautiful.

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