In this series we will look deeper into a work that was especially admired in our community: Boathouses, created by Rutger Paulusse. This piece captures the nautical spirit of the Dutch artist's hometown of Amsterdam in a colorful, visually striking way. You can sense the joy Paulusse gets from the entire creative process in his responses to each question. Enjoy!
What was your inspiration for this project?
I live in Amsterdam which is packed with boathouses. I really love them and I really want to own one, one day. It has something romantic to it of course, but it’s mostly about freedom. Theoretically, you could move your house anywhere in the world, so it gives a sense of freedom. Also you don’t have any direct neighbors so that is really special in a crazy crowded city such as Amsterdam. I also really love the canals in Amsterdam. There’s something about water and floating which intrigues me. Maybe it’s just because us humans consist of 60%-70% water, I don’t know! After seeing a lot of boathouses and visiting some friends who own them I really wanted to use that as inspiration for an illustration series.
![49b5e723582453.5632557d0eac1]()
Can you describe your process in creating this project?
First I made pictures of boats and elements of boats that I liked, such as stuff on the decks. All boats are based on actual boats that were close to the place I lived at that time. Then I would start modeling them in Cinema4D. After modeling the boathouses, I colored them. I finished each illustration before I started photographing for the next one. The color scheme was set when illustrating the first one and didn’t have to change it during the process; I love it when the color process goes as fluently as that.
Did you expect it to be as popular as it's been on The Behance Network?
No hahah, not really. It’s really difficult to predict what will become popular in the Behance community and what will not. Of course there are some trends that will get recognition easily, but when I did pieces that I thought people would love, but they ended up being the least liked pieces in my portfolio! Recognition from fellow creatives is awesome, but in the end the most important thing is if I enjoyed creating the pieces I make. Not even if the result is pleasing or not; it’s all about the process; did it make me a happy human at the moment I was working on it?
![3dca0d23582453.5632559324858]()
Did you go through many versions and iterations before coming up with these final pieces?
This project went pretty fluently, although I have had some lengthy experiences with self initiated pieces in the past though :)
Do you feel that this project is "done," or is there anything you'd like to improve on or change in the future?
This is done, time for something new. It has some elements or ideas in it that I definitely want to re-use, but that happens when it happens. Im not going to plan things like that. I really love the pattern of the water and I feel it’s a cool way of combining 3d and 2d, so if I can play around with 2d and 3d like that again in some project I will definitely explore that!
Did anything interesting happen as a result of the success of this project (fans contacting you, job opportunities, blogs picking it up, etc)?
I actually got contacted by 3 international clients the week after the feature. The feature probably helped in that since I’m mainly working for national clients at the moment. From those 3 requests at least one lead to a paid freelance job, so that is awesome!
![8adb3123582453.56325578f1bcf]()
What was your inspiration for this project?
I live in Amsterdam which is packed with boathouses. I really love them and I really want to own one, one day. It has something romantic to it of course, but it’s mostly about freedom. Theoretically, you could move your house anywhere in the world, so it gives a sense of freedom. Also you don’t have any direct neighbors so that is really special in a crazy crowded city such as Amsterdam. I also really love the canals in Amsterdam. There’s something about water and floating which intrigues me. Maybe it’s just because us humans consist of 60%-70% water, I don’t know! After seeing a lot of boathouses and visiting some friends who own them I really wanted to use that as inspiration for an illustration series.
Can you describe your process in creating this project?
First I made pictures of boats and elements of boats that I liked, such as stuff on the decks. All boats are based on actual boats that were close to the place I lived at that time. Then I would start modeling them in Cinema4D. After modeling the boathouses, I colored them. I finished each illustration before I started photographing for the next one. The color scheme was set when illustrating the first one and didn’t have to change it during the process; I love it when the color process goes as fluently as that.
Did you expect it to be as popular as it's been on The Behance Network?
No hahah, not really. It’s really difficult to predict what will become popular in the Behance community and what will not. Of course there are some trends that will get recognition easily, but when I did pieces that I thought people would love, but they ended up being the least liked pieces in my portfolio! Recognition from fellow creatives is awesome, but in the end the most important thing is if I enjoyed creating the pieces I make. Not even if the result is pleasing or not; it’s all about the process; did it make me a happy human at the moment I was working on it?
Did you go through many versions and iterations before coming up with these final pieces?
This project went pretty fluently, although I have had some lengthy experiences with self initiated pieces in the past though :)
Do you feel that this project is "done," or is there anything you'd like to improve on or change in the future?
This is done, time for something new. It has some elements or ideas in it that I definitely want to re-use, but that happens when it happens. Im not going to plan things like that. I really love the pattern of the water and I feel it’s a cool way of combining 3d and 2d, so if I can play around with 2d and 3d like that again in some project I will definitely explore that!
Did anything interesting happen as a result of the success of this project (fans contacting you, job opportunities, blogs picking it up, etc)?
I actually got contacted by 3 international clients the week after the feature. The feature probably helped in that since I’m mainly working for national clients at the moment. From those 3 requests at least one lead to a paid freelance job, so that is awesome!
