u/Ok_Government122

Marked NSFW because dermatillomania is a skin-picking disorder and one of my paintings shows blood. (I do not consider this skin picking disorder as self harm because I do not deliberately harm myself, it’s an unconscious thing that I do without realizing, but please mods if this breaks the rules take it down!)

These are all watercolor and pen on paper. Thank you in advance

Edit: I added my reference photos in the comments!

Please delete if not allowed, I’m not trying to sell any of my paintings on here I just need some input from other artists!

I’ve recently gotten some interest in my paintings and a few people have approached asking if they are for sale. I would love to sell my art but I have no idea how to price my work. What do you guys think? How much would you pay for these paintings?

Also, any critiques are welcome!! I know my proportions (like, focal points) may be off but other than that what can I do better??

Thank you!!

Edit: sitting here literally crying happy tears, I’m so thrilled that my art resonates with so many people. i was ready for some harsh criticism/a tough reality check! I don’t really even care if I’m able to sell my art, I’m just so happy that people seem to enjoy my style :,) Thank you to each and every person who left a comment and advice.

Recently moved back home with my parents because rent is too damn high and my dad continues to make me gfeel like an unwelcome burden despite me bending over backwards to be the perfect tenant.

He has always been emotionally distant, he was a champion at ignoring me when I was a kid and that hasn’t changed much. I try to make small talk and connect more with him, sometimes I ask if he needs help with anything around the house, etc. and he usually just ignores me. Like stares right through me while I’m talking as if I’m not even there. It’s very eerie and unsettling. Best case scenario is I’ll get a grunt or two of acknowledgement and maybe a few bored “mm hmm”s. Sometimes I show him my art projects and he doesn’t even look at them, just grunts and continues to stare at the computer.

(I’ve really been trying to make an effort because before I moved back in my mom told me that my dad said he was hurt because I never show interest in what he’s doing. I thought he just wanted to be left alone so I never talked much with him at all, but after hearing that I went back to trying to connect with him. But he still just acts disinterested and annoyed.)

He’s so rude to my mom and criticizes her cooking every single day. It makes me sad for my mom but if I try to defend her and say that he is being rude, it will turn into a big fight and then both of my parents will be upset with me, even my mom for “disrespecting my father”.

I always say “love you!” to dad if I’m leaving the house and he never says it back.

I moved in after losing my job to a mental health crisis. My parents planned to move out of state very soon, within 1-2 months. So both my parents said “don’t worry about finding a job, you can find one when we move and we’ll support you until then.” Later, I heard him complaining that I have no job and rely on them financially, so I started looking for jobs and then he snapped at me for doing so because “we’re moving soon and there’s no point in getting a job right now.” So I just feel anxious. I’ve been eating as little as possible and showering every other day to try to use less resources to be less of a burden.

I don’t know why he doesn’t love me. I’ve never asked them for any big amounts of money, I just needed to live in their house. My mom was super excited for me to move back in and I feel like my dad is just tolerating me for her. I’m not like a giant failure, I lived financially independently from them for 10 years before moving back, I got a full ride scholarship to college so I saved them money there, I try to help out around the house with whatever they ask and be the perfect roommate, and it just feels like he can’t stand my mere presence. My parents are quite wealthy but we live extremely modestly and I respect their way of living but I can’t understand why my dad treats me like I’m going to push them into financial ruin.

I’m sad.

I’ve been unemployed for months now after losing a series of jobs to my poor mental health and undergoing intensive outpatient treatment while trialing new medications. Still I’ve been applying to as many jobs as I can with no luck. I’ve been coping okay, trying to stay upbeat even though my savings just ran out and I’m officially flat broke. I’ll be relying on my parents from here on out which means only buying the absolute necessities. I’m super grateful that they keep a roof over my head and food in my belly, I know I am very privileged for that. I just need to vent.

Despite the free rent and free food I have no money for anything else. Like I said I’ve been coping, mostly painting with my art supplies I already own so it’s a free activity. I paint all day every day. I’m kind of trapped in the house all the time after my car broke down and I couldn’t afford the $4k bill to get it working again. I live in a very car dependent desert city. I’ve already applied to all the jobs within walking distance and then all the jobs within biking distance. Jobs advertised as “work from home” seem to always be a hybrid setting, which leads to the no car issue. So now I just feel stuck.

There have been times where I see something and really want to buy it but of course I can’t, I don’t have any more of my own money. But like I said, I’ve been trying to focus on the things I do have and it’s been fine.

Until my favorite small artist posted a painting for sale on an art gallery website. They hardly ever sell their work and when they do it’s almost always sold out by the time I see the listing. They posted the most beautiful painting I’ve ever seen. And it’s $250 that I don’t have. If I had a job I would’ve bought it in a heartbeat.

I’ll admit I cried. It all just hit me. I can’t go out to the movies or go out to eat or get coffee with a friend or even just get in my car and drive to the mall to walk around to get out of the house. My area is super hot so I can’t do any outdoor activities after the month of March. Otherwise I’d just be going in walks all day but I can’t even do that.

I’m so tempted just to put the painting on my credit card and say fuck it, I’ll start going deeper into debt. I feel like nothing matters and nothing makes me feel real joy and this painting just speaks to me and makes me heart happy and I caught it for sale before it sells out and I can’t get it and it sucks. And then I feel guilty because so many people out there don’t even have a roof over their head and food to eat and here I am throwing a tantrum over a beautiful painting. But it’s just so gorgeous, I could stare at it every day and never be able to memorize the paint strokes. I wish the artist sold prints.

Labeled NSFW because of this picture. Pic was stolen from google but shows more or less what I’m dealing with.

For basically my whole life I’ve dealt with these fine, white/opaque grains of what feels like slightly squishy sand on my scalp. It’s not flakes of dandruff, they always appear as round grains of sand. My scalp is never itchy nor does it hurt, but I run my fingers through my hair a lot when I concentrate and I constantly find the “hair sand”.

Now I learn that it’s not “hair sand”, it’s sebum plugs. I never knew this was a thing and I’m finding conflicting info on how to take care of it.

I wash my hair almost every single day because it’s super oily, and I don’t use conditioner for the same reason. The only shampoo I use is Head and Shoulders dandruff shampoo because if I don’t, my dandruff will come back. But it doesn’t seem to affect the sebum plugs. I always scrub my scalp vigorously in the shower, but it doesn’t seem to do much.

Has anyone else successfully gotten rid of sebum plugs? It wouldn’t be that big of a deal for me except I have been a chronic skin picker my whole life and it seems like now I’m starting to run my hands through my hair more often to search for the particles and I’m worried I’m going to start getting bald spots lol.

Edit: I took a picture of the top of my head just now and you can literally see the sebum plugs so clearly omg, I didn’t realize it was so visible :/ pic is posted in the comments

Is there any way to fix this? Washing instructions on the tag said it was fine to machine wash in cold water and then tumble dry low, which was exactly what I did. But I’m assuming in the dryer something happened to the letters. I think the lettering is just plastic decals? (This is the first time I’ve washed the sweater.)

If this can be fixed I’ll be sure to let it hang to dry from now on.

Looking for more photos with a “fast food in jarringly beautiful places” vibe