TikTok's 'paint your partner' trend explained

Viral trends come and go, and not all of them show social media at its best – but sometimes one will come along which reminds us of how wholesome people can be online.

If you’ve been on TikTok recently there’s a good chance that you’ve seen couples taking part in the “paint your partner” trend.

The trend, as the title suggests, sees couples stay in for date night and paint portraits of their other halves.

The results are often heartwarming, frequently hilarious, and occasionally absolutely horrifying.

Videos tagged with #PaintYourPartner have racked up hundreds of millions of views and the portraits vary wildly in quality.

But the results are nearly always charming, and seeing people crack up after seeing themselves represented on canvas never gets old.

One video which sums up the chaos of the trend is from TikTokers @mattandkharli, who uploaded a video which has racked up more than 800,000 likes and millions of views.

While Kharli’s portrait is skillfully done, Matt’s effort leaves a lot to be desired – and the reaction to his effort to paint Kharli is a perfect example of what makes the trend so great.

Some of the clips, though, show some truly exceptional artworks from TikTok users - although it's not always matched by their partners.

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