Wet Canvas Site
Here is a little info on the Wet Canvas site, copied from their site. This really gives a sense of how large this particular population of users is.
“A History of Exponential Growth:
* Founded in 1998
* We have enjoyed an average growth rate of over 100% for each of the last 7 years.
* There are over 119,000 registered, active members.
* Over 2,000 members are added every month.
* Another 250,000 visitors find us each month through search engines, art publications, and newsletters.
* In 2007, we received traffic from more than 2 million unique IP addresses.
* WetCanvas! was recognized by a large community tracking and advocacy group as one of the top 100 largest bulletin boards on the Internet, and the single largest with a focus on the visual artist.”
Flickr.com is a photo library which I just discovered also has for example a watercolor painters group and forum.