What happens when two passionate urban sketching communities gather at the same time, in two beautiful locations, with perfect winter weather, great company, tea and cake, and a shared love of creativity?
You get a day to remember.
At The Deckle Edge, we were incredibly proud to simultaneously host the Urban Sketchers Cape Town and Urban Sketchers Knysna communities at our Salt River and Knysna art stores. While separated by hundreds of kilometres, both groups spent the same day doing exactly what they love: sketching on location, sharing ideas, encouraging one another, and celebrating the joy of creating art together.
Watching both stores come alive with artists, sketchbooks, watercolours and conversation was something truly special, and it reminded us exactly why supporting South Africa’s creative community means so much to us.
What is Urban Sketching?
Urban sketching is the practice of drawing and painting on location, capturing the world exactly as you see it. Instead of working from photographs or inside a studio, artists head outdoors to record the buildings, streets, cafés, landscapes, people and everyday moments that make each place unique.
Every sketch tells a story.
Rather than striving for perfection, urban sketchers aim to capture the atmosphere, character and feeling of a place. Each page becomes part of a visual diary, preserving memories that a camera often cannot.
Watercolour has become one of the most loved mediums for urban sketching because it is portable, expressive and perfect for capturing changing light and atmosphere. (Each attendee was lucky enough to try out the newly launched Iris Watercolour paints which they all received in their free goodie box.) Combined with ink or graphite, it allows artists to work quickly while adding beautiful colour and life to their sketches.
A Worldwide Community
Urban sketching has grown into an international movement through the Urban Sketchers organisation, connecting thousands of artists across hundreds of cities around the world.
Their inspiring motto, “We show the world, one drawing at a time,” perfectly sums up the movement. Artists of every age and skill level meet regularly to sketch together, learn from one another, explore their surroundings and simply enjoy creating art in good company.
It is one of the most welcoming art communities in the world, proving that creativity is something best shared.
Urban Sketchers Cape Town
The Urban Sketchers Cape Town community regularly explores the city’s incredible architecture, colourful neighbourhoods, public spaces and iconic landmarks.
For our event, artists gathered at The Deckle Edge Salt River before heading out to sketch around the store and surrounding area. Every artist found something different to capture, from interesting buildings and street scenes to the everyday details that most people simply walk past.
There was constant conversation, encouragement and plenty of laughter as artists compared sketchbooks, shared techniques and inspired one another throughout the day.
Some feedback from those who attended:
“A morning full of yumminesses of art tool treats, brilliant sketching vistas, art medium explorations, great company & happy pages. Big thanks & appreciations to All the @thedeckleedge Team & @primeartsa goodie box of art treasures. Our @urbansketcherscapetown group were thrilled to share the morning together like this. W H A T a treat of a morning, in all ways! Gracious attentive hosting, 📷 , ☕🫖🥨🥐🥯🫗abundant goodie box & happy USk community chats-sharings. Many thanks indeed.” – Janie
“Wow. What a morning of treats and delights, amazing company and good sketching.
Thanks to everyone who made this possible.” – Di
“Thanks so much for the lovely morning! We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed all the treats and goodies 🙂 And of course, indulging in acquiring even more art supplies with the generous discount (because who could resist ;)” – Lizette
“Fabulous gathering, goodie box treats🤗🤩, eats & arty time shared” – Janie
“Thank you, thank you for organizing this morning session – so spoiled by Deckle Edge and PrimeArt”– Alexandra
“Lovely day on the rooftop of The Deckle Edge.” – Charl
“Thank you for organising a wonderful morning at The Deckle Edge.” – Simon
Urban Sketchers Knysna
At exactly the same time, our Knysna store was enjoying the very same creative energy.
The Urban Sketchers Knysna community spent the day exploring the charm and character of Knysna while sketching around the store and nearby streets. With beautiful weather and endless inspiration, artists spread out to capture everything from local architecture to the unique atmosphere that makes Knysna such a favourite destination for artists.
Although the two events were held in different towns, they shared exactly the same spirit. Creativity, friendship, learning and a genuine appreciation for the places around us.
Some feedback from those who attended:
“Lovely sketch day at/around Deckle Edge Knysna. Thank you Deckle Edge for laying on a spread for us;and all the art materials to test 🙏🏼Such a pleasure to have you supporting art in Knysna 🫶🏼” – Urban Sketchers Knysna
After quite a long break it was great to get back to sketching with Urban Sketchers Knysna yesterday in the warm Winter sunshine complimented the whole experience. Big thanks to Deckle Edge Knysna for the superb gift packs, delicious snacks and refreshments to energize us, and the always friendly staff members! Also to Fawa Conradie from Knysna Artist Society for making it possible for us in our buzzing little townduring the Knysna Oyster Festival. You all rock!” – Lyn
“Thank you Deckle Edge for the lovely spread and hosting us🙏🏻 And our great gift bags! 🖍️🖌️🖋️✏️”– Fawa
Thank you The Deckle Edge Knysna Branch and Fawa Conradie for organising a beautiful morning. We did lovely sketching, had delicious treats and coffee. – Michelle
Giving Back to Our Artist Community
At The Deckle Edge, we believe that supporting artists goes beyond simply supplying quality art materials.
Communities like Urban Sketchers invest countless hours organising sketch walks, welcoming new members, sharing knowledge and encouraging artists to keep creating. We wanted to thank them for everything they contribute to South Africa’s creative community.
To show our appreciation, both our Cape Town and Knysna teams treated attendees to tea, delicious cakes and specially prepared artist goodie boxes filled with amazing art supplies like a Hahnemuhle Watercolour Sketch Book, Daniel Smith Watercolour Stick, Daniel Smith Dot Card, Fabriano Papers, the New Iris Watercolour Dot Card, Cretacolor Pencils, a PrimeArt brush & pencil, Koi Colouring Brush Pen, a Pigma Micron and Magnani paper samples too.
Paint to Win: A Celebration of Watercolour
As part of the day’s activities, members of both Urban Sketchers groups were invited to create and submit entries for our nationwide Paint to Win Watercolour Competition while they were together.
The sketching gatherings were simply a fun opportunity to paint, socialise and enter their artwork in store. The competition itself is open to everyone across South Africa, and artists from all backgrounds and experience levels are encouraged to participate throughout the competition period. Attending the Urban Sketchers events did not provide any special advantage; it was simply a wonderful opportunity to enter while enjoying a day of creativity with fellow artists.
Because watercolour is such a popular medium among urban sketchers, we decided to make this year’s grand prize especially exciting. We curated our biggest Urban Sketching-themed prize hamper yet, valued at an incredible R15,000.
Filled with premium watercolour paints, professional sketchbooks, pens, brushes and carefully selected sketching supplies from some of the world’s favourite art brands, it is a prize that any watercolour artist would love to win. While inspired by urban sketching, the prize is part of the national Paint to Win competition and could be won by any eligible entrant from anywhere in South Africa.
Why We Love Urban Sketching
Urban sketching encourages us to slow down.
It teaches us to really observe the places we visit instead of simply passing through them. It builds confidence, improves drawing skills, encourages exploration and reminds us to appreciate the beauty found in everyday moments.
Perhaps most importantly, it creates friendships. Whether you’re an experienced artist or opening a sketchbook for the very first time, there is always a place beside another urban sketcher.
That welcoming spirit is something we are incredibly proud to support.
Thank You
A heartfelt thank you to everyone from Urban Sketchers Cape Town and Urban Sketchers Knysna who joined us for this special day.
Hosting both communities simultaneously across our two stores was a privilege. Seeing artists filling our spaces with sketchbooks, watercolours, conversation and laughter reminded us why we love what we do.
Thank you for sharing your creativity, your passion and your time with us. We hope you enjoyed the tea, cake, PrimeArt goodie boxes and the chance to be part of our Paint to Win Watercolour Competition.
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