Something painter does in society: hits the bottle! (8)

I believe the answer is:

stipples

'something painter does' is the definition.
(a painter might stipple a picture with paint)

'society hits the bottle' is the wordplay.
'society' becomes 's' (common abbreviation in names of organisations).
'hits the bottle' becomes 'tipples' (tipple can mean to drink alcohol).
's'+'tipples'='STIPPLES'

'in' is the link.

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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