Behind the Scenes: A New Look for My Studio Wall 🎥🚢

In the coming weeks as you watch my to-camera sections in my videos, you’ll notice something has changed behind me.

After several years using the same studio wall background – largely made up of classic vintage cruise liner advertising – I finally decided it was time for a refresh. Not because I stopped loving those pieces, but because I stumbled across something that genuinely reignited my inner liner geek… and inspired a rethink of the whole space.

That inspiration came from a very talented Dutch artist called Onno Heesbeen.

Onno Heesbeen is a total historic liner and cruise ship obsessive (in the best possible way), and his work immediately stood out to me because it’s not just beautiful – it’s deeply researched, historically accurate, and created by someone who truly understands ships.

He describes himself as a liner and maritime artist and model maker, but if you follow his work you’ll quickly realise how much depth goes into every drawing. On both Facebook and Patreon he regularly shares how he creates his pieces, the research involved, and the tiny details most people would never even think about.

At the moment, he’s documenting the creation of a large-scale, highly detailed drawing of Queen Elizabeth 2 – and the research alone is fascinating.

You can find Onno Heesbeen here:

• Website: https://onnoheesbeen.nl
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onnozonecom
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Onnozone
• Shop (drawings, photos, models): https://shop.onnozone.com

What’s new on the wall?

I’ve now framed and mounted three of Onno Heesbeen’s works, which form the centrepiece of the new studio layout:

Two 1-metre long framed drawings:

SS Rotterdam (1959)

SS Rotterdam 1959 | Museum quality Giclée print | 1m long

SS France (1962)

SS France 1962 | Museum quality Giclée print | 1m long

One framed trio of smaller drawings:

• SS Raffaello (1965)
• SS France (1962)
• RMS Queen Elizabeth 2

Superliner trio: SS Raffaello 1965 + SS France 1962 + RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 | 3 prints | 21×10 cm | Limited Edition

Alongside those, I’ve kept:

The large poster that was already part of the previous setup

My Queen Mary 2 ship portrait from The Cruise Maps

Queen Mary 2 Scale Ship Portrait

(And as always, if you’re buying anything from The Cruise Maps, use code TFT at checkout for 10% off – or just use this link and it’s applied automatically: https://www.thecruisemaps.com/tft)

Why this matters (to me, at least)

This wall is what sits behind every single on-camera segment of Tips For Travellers videos. It’s part of the visual identity of the channel, but it’s also something that represents my love of cruising and history of liners and passenger ships.

Having artwork there that reflects:

the golden age of ocean liners

the engineering and design brilliance of those ships

and the obsessive detail that went into them

…just feels right!

I’ve included shots of the new layout in this post so you can see how it all looks and I’d love to know what you think. It’s still unmistakably what I have been using for the channel – just evolved a little.

As always, thank you for supporting the channel and making it possible for me to keep improving, experimenting, and sharing more of the behind-the-scenes side with you!

And do check Onno Heesbeen out!!