How sip and paint is creating a new canvas for Kenya's live artists

In a softly lit space filled with conversation, clinking glasses and low music, art unfolds in real time. A blank canvas slowly transforms under steady brushstrokes as guests watch, sip and pause mid-conversation to see a story take shape.

This is the world of sip and paint, a relaxed social experience that blends guided art instruction with leisure, often over drinks and conversation. Beyond the surface of entertainment lies a growing creative discipline known as live painting.

Unlike studio work, live painting happens in full view, with every brushstroke visible as colours are mixed and images take shape in real time. The format is popular at festivals, private and corporate events, focusing less on perfection and more on a shared experience where guests watch, interact and connect with the artwork as it unfolds.

For 24-year-old creative technologist and painter Natasha Nduku, this is where her career has found its rhythm. Her journey began during the Covid-19 period, when she first became fascinated by painting content online.

"I was obsessed with painting TikToks so I got my first brush and just went for it," she says. "I bought whatever paint I could find, ended up with gouache, and had no idea how it worked."

Though she had explored art since childhood, Nduku explains that her practice deepened after returning to university, when experimentation turned into obsession. She notes that everything clicked after the pandemic, when she became truly serious about painting and drawing.

Today, Nduku is part of a small but growing group of live painters in Kenya navigating an emerging creative space that is still poorly defined locally. She says one of her earliest challenges was visibility, especially as a young woman taking up space in a niche industry.

"In event spaces, people are not used to seeing a woman do this kind of work," she says. "Live painting is still new here, so at first people don't know how to categorise it."

Her breakthrough into corporate work came unexpectedly when a client who had seen her previous work reached out with an opportunity for a live painting at an event. Despite having no prior experience in that format, she accepted the challenge.

"I had never done anything like it. I said yes and we figured it out as we went," she recalls. "That event taught me more than any amount of planning would have."

Since then, she has worked on high-profile experiential events, including premium brand activations such as a Johnnie Walker Blue Label launch at the House of Walker experience in Nairobi. There, she painted live as guests watched the artwork evolve alongside tastings, music and curated storytelling.

The event blended sip and paint culture with a luxury brand experience, featuring DJs, hosts and an audience immersed in both art and product storytelling. For Nduku, it was a defining example of how live painting can transform corporate events.

"Guests love interacting with it," she says. "Watching something come to life in real time creates an emotional connection that stays with them. It also gives the brand a physical piece of the experience."

She adds that live painting offers something valuable for documentation as well, giving photographers and videographers a dynamic focal point as the artwork evolves.

Despite its growing appeal, Nduku says the industry in Kenya still struggles with valuation and recognition. She explains that painting is still largely seen as a hobby or decoration locally, whereas other markets have an established culture of commissioning and paying for art properly.

Her experience reflects broader challenges facing Kenya's art scene, where artists often work within an informal market, face high material costs due to imports, and navigate limited institutional support. Many also tailor their work to tourist or expatriate demand in order to sustain themselves.

Yet Nduku remains committed to the medium, particularly the unpredictability of live painting.

"One thing that always fascinates me is when guests gather around mid-event," she says. "They just stand there, watching the painting happen."