Nationwide lockdowns have seen many people turn to new hobbies that they can do at home. But unlike the rise and fall of sourdough baking (which has already returned to pre-pandemic levels), painting appears to be sticking around; membership of various painting subreddits started spiking as late as September. 

The trend is also gaining traction on social media platforms like TikTok, where tags such as #OilPainting and #WatercolorPainting have ~500m and ~118m views, respectively. Monthly search interest is also high, according to Keywords Everywhere:

  • “Oil painting for beginners”: 12.1k
  • “Oil painting ideas”: 9.9k
  • “Watercolor painting ideas”: 8.1k
  • “Easy watercolor paintings for beginners”: 6.6k
  • “Watercolor painting tutorial”: 5.4k
  • “Oil painting tutorial”: 3.6k