Illustration conceptualisation for Julefreden.

At a meeting with Lars we decided we would add some spot illustrations and not so many full illustrations as it may be to much. So I set about drawing other illustrations of the main characters and other relevant things.

Due to the amount of concepts possible I ended up creating many more illustrations then needed but I wanted to make the book the best it could be for the children to enjoy. Especially since Christmas, monsters and creatures some of my favorite things.

My head was so full of possibilities for the illustrations due to Lars's wonderful descriptive writing that it became overwhelming at times. I had to keep taking more notes and going back and forth to the manuscript to double check things as in some of the chapters Google had translated things like names in many ways which became confusing.

Another problem was that I think because I hadn't yet experience Christmas in Viborg it was difficult to visualize some of the concepts of the book, the streets, the buildings that were in the book. I walked around the streets and took hundreds of photos but couldn't quite connect the dots with the manuscript and what was going on in the story. I told Lars and he was kind enough to take me on a walk around Viborg and show me the relevant places in the book and describe what happened in the book in these places. This helped me a lot.

I listed the buildings, drew rough concepts and tried to meet the requirements of the story progression.

Viborg Domkirken sketch

I think as an illustrator it takes time for some ideas and visuals to populate in my mind and so sitting and thinking, drinking lots of coffee and laying on the bed just to try to calm the busy mind helps a lot with a project like this. There is so much I could draw, really there seems to be no boundaries, that is the problem. Trying to cut down the ideas, the need to put an image on paper because it is exciting and even if it doesn't quite fit I just have to get it out of my mind otherwise it sits there teasing me for weeks.

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