A realistic virtual painter's studio with paint mixing, lifelike brushes and endless canvases, sold on Quest, Steam and PICO for $14.99, with a passthrough mode on Quest.
Painting VR is a virtual art studio from the Belgian team Oisoi Studio and one of the most popular painting apps in the creativity and design category. Unlike 3D sketching tools, it simulates traditional painting on canvas. After about a year of early access on Quest's App Lab and a Kickstarter campaign, the full version launched on April 14, 2022.
What it does
You stand in front of an easel with unlimited paint, canvases and tools. Brushes behave like real ones, colors blend when you mix them on a palette, and you can undo mistakes or pick colors with a color picker. You can import reference images, start from templates and coloring pages, or try playful extras such as rainbow paint. A zero-gravity mode lets canvases float freely around you, and you can decorate your studio and hang finished work on its walls. The PICO version's notes also mention multiplayer exhibitions for showing your paintings to friends.
On Quest, a passthrough mode lets you paint while seeing your own room.
Comfort
There is no artificial movement: you paint while standing, sitting or walking around your play space, and a dedicated sitting mode adjusts the setup for seated use. The stores do not show a comfort rating.
Platforms and what to know before buying
- It costs $14.99 on the Meta Horizon Store, on Steam for SteamVR headsets and on the PICO Store. On Quest it runs on headsets such as the Meta Quest 3.
- Extra content is sold separately. On Steam there are five add-ons, from the $1.99 Pixel Paint to the $6.99 Artist Essentials Brush Pack, such as new studios and brush packs; the Quest version also has in-app purchases.
- The PC VR version needs Windows 10 or 11, a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or Radeon RX 470 class GPU, 8 GB of RAM and SteamVR or OpenXR.
- The PICO version supports headsets up to the PICO 4 Ultra, but its listing was last updated in January 2024, so it may lag behind the other versions.
- Steam lists eight interface languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese.
- It is rated 3+ on the Meta Horizon Store and the PICO Store.
- Oisoi also sells Painting PC, a flat-screen spin-off, on Steam.
