Sketching at the Ghent botanical garden

Did you know the fair city of Ghent has its own botanical garden? It’s owned by the university and it’s pretty awesome. It’s also not that big, but that doesn’t matter. They have the coolest tropical plants and one day I went outside and went to draw them.

At least, that was the plan. I didn’t actually do much drawing while I was there, because there were other people and I was way too embarrassed. By the time I actually dared drawing it was almost time to go home. I did take a whole bunch of pictures while I was there and I now use these as reference material for when I feel like drawing jungles.

It’s pretty amazing to see how many shapes and patterns there are in such a common thing as leaves. Even if you ignored all the special shapes and colours on leaves, you could probably fill a book with all the different patterns the veins make on leaves. That’s why I love collecting plants so much.

While I was at the botanical garden it was the first time I used my Boc’n’Roll sandwich wrap (which was sent to me for review). It did all the things you’d expect from a sandwich wrap (keep your bread fresh and crunchy) perfectly, but with the added bonus you don’t have to throw it away and it takes in less space after you used it (as opposed to a lunchbox). I’ve used it daily since I started working full-time and I can’t believe people are actually still using aluminium foil when there’s an alternative that is so much better for the planet!

After taking lots of pictures and drawing on location for a teeny tiny bit I went home, to draw some more. The following days and weeks I kept on drawing leaves in my sketchbook. I’ve still got a couple of jungle ideas I want to draw, but I haven’t found the time. So even though this excursion felt like a fail at the time, it actually gave me an extra inspiration boost! And I feel like my leaf-drawing actually got a bit better.

I want to go back to the botanical garden, but it’s proven rather difficult. I also want to go sketching (or at least try to go sketching) on other locations. I’m not sure where though.

If you have any tips, please let me know! Also if you have a Boc’n’roll wrap (or something similar) tell me what do you think of it? Has it proven it’s durability?