Pages from the South Africa Sketchbook (part 1)

Sketching along the Garden Route along the southern coast of the African continent. Hermanus, South Africa.

A holiday gift from a good friend inspired me to begin making small daily watercolor sketches. What started as a simple practice in December continued until I filled the pages of a tiny 3” × 3” watercolor pad while traveling in South Africa.

Coming from the mindset that one can never have too many sketchbooks or journals, I also packed a slightly larger watercolor sketchbook and a lined journal. Each day I recorded our travels—sometimes in words, sometimes in quick sketches, and often in a combination of the two.

These small drawings became a way of slowing down and paying attention: the shifting landscape, workshops and rehearsals with dancers, African penguins gathered along the shore at Boulders Beach, and the unforgettable wildlife encounters on safari—giraffes browsing quietly, zebras crossing the road ahead of us, elephants gathering at a watering hole.

Below are a few pages from those sketchbooks.

Rooftops from a wonderful lunch in Mossel Bay, SA. The watercolor pad and brushes were part of Tobios watercolor set, a holiday gift from my good friend Catherine Hartigan-and the Windsor Newton half pan watercolor set I’ve had for 30+ years.

Lunch time was always a favorite time to sit and sketch. Little gems along the way. This spot was just leaving Noordhoek Beach in Cape Town on our way to see the penguins at Boulder’s Beach.

It was there I sketched this fountain in the courtyard.

African penguins, Boulders Beach.

Looking back through them now, the sketches feel less like records of where we went and more like traces of what we experienced along the way.

We experienced so much during our time in South Africa that I’m still taking it all in. I’ll share more reflections and pages from the sketchbook in the weeks ahead.