The best hooks for painting reels, from 1,778 that went viral
We read the opening line of every viral painting reel in Aubrium's library: which hooks show up most, which travelled furthest, and 16 real ones to learn from.
An account with just 1,112 followers put this line over a painting reel: "And All started with this 🎨🥹 If you know, you know 🥺🤍". It got 7.2 million views.
Relatable lines like that one are the painting hooks that went furthest. To find that out we went through all 1,778 viral painting reels in Aubrium's library, from 1,513 artists, and sorted every opening by type, length and first word. It's one page of our guide to hooks across every niche. What goes viral in each niche covers the others we looked at.
On viral painting reels, the hook you'll see most is a curiosity gap, at 18%. Relatable lines turn up less, at 10%, yet went furthest: the middle one drew views worth 39 times its account's followers. 33% have no hook of any type. 60% put the hook on screen as text, and the middle hook is 9 words.
Aubrium's library, 22 October 2026.
What kind of hook works best for painting reels?
Relatable lines went furthest, though curiosity gaps are the most common. Bold claims did well too.
Only 173 painting reels open on a relatable line, against 327 on a curiosity gap. Yet the middle relatable reel travelled 39 times its creator's followers, and the middle curiosity gap 19. Bold claims, like "acrylic paint is rage bait", reached 30 times. And 33% of these reels have no hook of any type.
16 painting hooks that went viral
Each is its artist's most-viewed reel in the library, picked by hand. iPads, light tables, murals and graffiti all turn up. The type buttons filter the list.
- RelatableText on screen
And All started with this 🎨🥹 If you know, you know 🥺🤍
- RelatableText on screen
Cute Things to draw When bored ✏️
- NegativeText on screen
well this was unfortunate
- NegativeText and spoken
I made a mistake.
- Curiosity gapText on screen
How to use your iPad as a ✨light table✨
- Curiosity gapText on screen
Wait For final shading ✍🏻🌳
- Curiosity gapText on screen
Swapping iPads every 15 minutes
- Curiosity gapText on screen
if my paintings aren't in your budget right now I'll accept the following as payment:
- QuestionSpoken
Could I paint your business?
- QuestionText on screen
why do I cover my canvas in orange?
- Bold claimText on screen
ugly art is better than ai
- Bold claimText on screen
acrylic paint is rage bait
- Transformation teaseText on screen
Restoring my ruined graffiti
- CalloutText on screen
Let's paint a WALL MURAL
- POVText and spoken
POV you're at a baseball game and also a painter
- AspirationalText on screen
i hope you find some peace of mind in this lifetime
How long should a painting hook be?
Brief. Painting hooks of 8 words or fewer went further than longer ones, and the middle hook sits just past that, at 9 words.
The tightest hooks, 1 to 4 words, went 27 times the followers of the account behind them, and 5 to 8 words went 23. Hooks longer than 12 words managed 13 to 15 times. 50% of painting hooks already come in at 8 words or fewer.
Should you say the hook or show it?
Show it. Text on screen, with no voice, opens 51% of viral painting reels and went furthest.
With a line of text on its own, the middle reel reached 26 times its account's followers. A voice alone managed 17, and text read aloud just 11. Few painting reels give the hook a voice: 11% use a voice alone, and 9% pair it with text.
How do viral painting hooks start?
"I" opens 44 painting hooks, well ahead of "the" at 24, then "how" and "I'm". Painting hooks are personal: "I", "I'm" and "my" all make the top 12.
- I 44
- the 24
- how 23
- I'm 21
- this 17
- if 16
- let's 16
- you 16
- my 14
- POV 13
- when 13
- what 11
The first word of 606 English hooks on viral painting reels, and how many start with it.
Four of the shapes painters keep coming back to, with a real example of each:
POV…
“Pov: ur a digital and traditional artist”
How to… / How I…
“How to draw Knitted texture”
Why…
“why do I cover my canvas in orange?”
When… / If you…
“if my paintings aren't in your budget right now I'll accept the following as payment:”
Keep reading
There's more to a painting reel than its first line. How painting reels go viral looks at the format, the faces and the sound. For other makers, see the hooks on author reels, crafting reels and florist reels.
Questions people ask
What are good hooks for art reels?
Relatable lines travelled furthest on viral painting reels in Aubrium's library, 39 times the account's followers for the middle one. The most common type is the curiosity gap, at 18%.
Do painting reels need a hook?
Not always. 33% of viral painting reels open with no hook, and the middle one of those still went 23 times its account's followers.
How long should a painting hook be?
Around 9 words is the middle on viral painting reels. The shortest, 1 to 4 words, went furthest, at 27 times the account's followers.
Should artists talk in their reels?
Few do. Only 11% of viral painting reels rely on a voice alone, and a line of text alone went further, 26 times the account's followers against 17.
What word do painting hooks start with?
"I" leads, opening 44 of the 606 English painting hooks we counted, then "the" and "how".
How we did this
We looked at every painting reel in Aubrium's library on 22 October 2026: 1,778 reels from 1,513 creators with 1,000 to 100,000 followers, each of which reached at least twice its creator's follower count and at least 10,000 views. We counted every reel filed in Aubrium's painting niche; a reel can sit in more than one niche.
Hook types, delivery and on-screen text are labels Aubrium's reader puts on every post. Hook length and first words count the 606 reels with an English hook in words. Every number here describes reels that already went viral, so none of it is the odds for a new one.
Changelog
- First version.
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