On any given Sunday of the year, if you are prone to trawling through the city, you may spot a bunch of people hunched over sketchbooks oblivious to the world around them. Chances are, you may not catch them at the same location again; they tend to turn up at unexpected places.

These ‘sketchers’ are part of Penciljam, a Bengaluru-based artist community that has been meeting every Sunday for the past 16 years. The brain child of Smitha Shivaswamy and George Supreeth, it is a citizen art initiative.

“We felt the need to step outside to draw; a common practice for most artists. It is a great way to learn, and back in 2009, there were not too many similar communities in Bengaluru,” says Smitha, adding that though she and George were running an illustration studio after graduating from Chitrakala Parishath, they felt this integral cog to their creativity was lacking.

The duo began by posting their idea with the venue on Facebook; from the handful of people who first showed up, there are about 40-50sketchers at any given session today.

“Every Sunday, we meet at parks and public spaces such as the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and Cubbon Park — places we felt would give us different perspectives as some prefer capturing nature and architecture, while others enjoy sketching people. Venues such as these have a lot to offer.”

According to Smitha, the idea of drawing outside, especially if one is new to it, can be intimidating. “Strangers keep peeking at your work and before you properly start, you are agonising over the fact ‘someone’ is going to be analysing it when you’re done. This layer of internal criticism can be crippling, particularly for creative people who tend to be private about their work.”

She says spaces such MAP or NGMA are easier to work from as most visitors to those locations rarely bother artists. “We had a two-fold objective with Penciljam. First, we wanted to break the notion of “to be able to draw, I need to be an artist,” and open the experience up to everyone.”

“Next, the act of drawing is supposed to be a relaxing activity. This is why we are working at ensuring art is a part of everybody’s life. Besides, just because one does not draw, it doesn’t mean that you are not creative or not an artist. Many daily activities such as outlining rangoli are artistic in nature.”

Each session which lasts about two hours, sees a mix of beginners, hobbyists and professionals sketching away in silence; once done, the artists lay out their work for everyone to see. Needless to say, it reveals different styles and points of view. “This leads to conversations about techniques and makes one think of various perspectives to their work; there is learning through discussion.”

Smitha says the group, “moved to Discord as a community about a year ago” as the platform allows for users to share their artwork as well as resource links, books they are reading, tutorials, reference photos and more.

Apart from sketching on Sundays, the community participates in other activities too. “Every Tuesday we have a long-time member who hosts a figure drawing session on the AV channel for about an hour. And every two weeks, we have Sketchbook Saturdays, where an artist shows us their personal sketchbook, giving us a peek into their world.”

The monthly schedule is posted on their site well in advance so members can plan their Sundays at leisure.

This year, Penciljam completes three years as a project of the Nabachika Foundation, a non-profit that aims to bridge art and community engagement. Penciljam also participated in BLR Hubba 2026 with an exhibition titled “Drawing Bengaluru,” that included the works of 51 of their artists on display at NGMA.

Penciljam has a wide age group that includes children as well as senior citizens. “We try to choose places where children accompanying parents who want to sketch, can run around or participate if they wish,” says Smitha, adding that youngsters can join on their own too, “as long as they bring a guardian along.”

Details about Penciljam and their activities can be found on penciljam.com and nabachika.com