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Book 3 and 4 in the series about Nilsen and his sister Dina will be available in book stores all over Norway any day now. At the moment I'm working on the sketches for book 5.

At the moment my main project is book nr. 3 for the "Nilsen and Dina"-series. The picture is a detail from one of the pages. I inked all the final artwork last week - now it's time to paint! The painting is my favorite part of the process. It's relaxing work and I love to see how the illustrations get closer and closer to how they will look in the book.

Last week I was featured in 3 different newspapers here in Norway about the new book series I have illustrated. This photo is from my local newspaper, Fredrikstad Blad, and it shows me in my studio. You can also see some more pictures of my studio in this article (Norwegian text).

One of the projects I'm working on at the moment is book 3 in the "Nilsen" series that I wrote about in my last post. I've made a lot of thumbnail sketches and now it's time to start working on the final sketches!

Last year I illustrated the first 2 books in a new series for 2-3 year olds here in Norway. Today I received a copy of the final books, and they will be in bookstores all over Norway any day now. I'm already working on the third book that will be published this fall. I'm really happy about how the books turned out!
(Written by Bodil Vidnes-Kopperud. Published by Cappelen Damm)

One thing I love about the start of a new year is writing my goals. Here's some of my goals for this year:

- Effective workdays. Keep away from distractions as much as possible.
- Illustrate at least 2 children's books.
- Finish writing my chapter book.
- Hold an exhibition of the illustrations from 2 of my books that will be published this spring.

Here's my Christmas card for this year. It's the first time I've created my Christmas card in my digital style.

Some things that inspired me in November:

Bold shapes and strong colors! Take a look at my blog to see some illustrations for a design project I've been working on lately.

An interview with illustrator Kirsten Ulve. I love her illustrations!

Spending a few days in Copenhagen, Denmark. Lots of snow, Christmas lights and good food & snacks. Can't ask for more than that!

I'm thankful for the opportunity to work with clients all over the world from my home here in Norway! The photo is from a Norwegian exhibition for illustrators this month, where I exhibited one of my illustrations for Highlights High Five Magazine.

This is my illustration for our fall mailer. Created digital with Adobe Illustrator and Corel Painter.

Some of the things that inspired me in September:

- 25 No-Nonsense Ways to Power Up Your Productivity - an interesting article!

- Buying a large whiteboard for my office wall. It's going to make working on big projects so much easier!

- Finally reading the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. It's not really my type of genre, but it's a great story that makes it difficult to put down the books. Just finished the 3rd book, can't wait to start the last one.

We all know how difficult it can be getting back to work after a vacation. Over the years I have understood how important my routines are to keep me productive and happy. These routines change during the summer, but once it's time to get back to work it's important to get into the routines again.

* Waking up early in the morning again.

* Planning what I need to do. Each month I write down what I need to do for each week.

* Planning each day by writing down the tasks I need to do for tomorrow. That way I start off every morning knowing exactly what to start working on.

* Get back to my "inspirational mood". This can be done by working on projects I love, reading inspirational quotes, reading a book, looking at inspiring illustrations etc. Whatever works for you.

* If everything fails - just sit down and get to work! Before you know it you're back into your routines.

When you're working in a creative profession it's important to find time for personal projects every now and then to keep the passion for your work alive. Even if you love the projects you're working on for clients, it's something different about taking time to make something out of your own ideas.

My favorite personal projects is making my own books. I write and make illustrations for picture books and I'm also writing on a chapter book at the moment. It's difficult to find the time to work on personal projects when I have lots of client work to focus on, but as soon as I have a bit of down-time I'll get to work on my own projects. They're slowly coming together. At the moment I'm balancing my personal projects and my client work by spending the first hour of each day working on personal projects. The rest of the day is for clients. I'm sure my personal projects will be set on hold at times when I have tight deadlines, but for now it's working pretty good.

The image above is showing some of my rough sketches for one of my picture book projects.

Some of the things that inspired me in July:

- Spending a few hours working on the local beach instead of in my office. When my office got so hot I had a hard time working I decided to pack up my project and go outside. And you know what, I got a lot done! Maybe I should try working in different locations more often.

- Board books. I'm doing research for a possible project, and spent a lot of time looking at board books at amazon. I got very inspired both by the illustrations and the simple stories.

- This quote by Abraham Lincoln: "Remember that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other." So true!

Some of the things that inspired me in June:

- This quote by Henry Ford: "Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right."

- The book The Island by Victoria Hislop. Really interesting story!

- Alicia Padron's Illustration Friday post. I love the little video story she made! I'll definitely make one myself soon.

I have lots of favorite picture books. One of them is Kitty's Cuddles by Jane Cabrera.

It's a simple book where we get to see different kinds of cuddles, and in the end figure out who is Kitty's favorite friend to cuddle.

What made me fall in love with this book was the amazing illustrations! They're colorful with big, bold shapes - and you can see the strokes from the paint brush. It's definitely worth a look!

Some of the things that inspired me in May:

- My trip to Barcelona. The old streets and buildings, the modern parts of the city, the long beach, all the trees in the city (especially the palm trees) and the harbor with what seems like millions of sail boats. Also the food market with all the fruit and juice stands. Just look at those beautiful colors in the picture!

- Big fields of green grass with lots of bright yellow spots (flowers) all over. (Can you tell I get inspired by colors?)

- Walking in Oslo and suddenly finding myself looking at a huge door with my design on. It was the door of a bowling alley that I have done a lot of design for, and I had no idea one of my designs was used to decorate the whole door. (Does this mean I got inspired by myself?)

I just got my copies of the last book I illustrated. It's called "En, to - støvel og sko" (One, Two - boot and shoe), and it's published by Norwegian GAN Aschehoug.

The book, written by Else H. Devold, is about how to teach the youngest kids in kindergarten the basic principles of mathematics. It has a lot of fun games and songs that I've illustrated.

I painted about 50 illustrations for this book, all with acrylic paints.

One thing you can't see in this photo is that the green cover is a bit shiny, and there's a bright red spiral binding the book together. It looks so playful!

Some of the things that inspired my in April:

1. Nature. One by one the flowers are popping up and the trees are turning greener for each day. I love that the world has colors again!

2. The illustration book Norwegian Illustrators No.03 (features my work).

3. Meeting lots of other illustrators at an open portfolio day. I was so inspiring to see all those portfolios in the same room!

I definitely think belonging to a critique group (illustration group, writing group etc.) can help you move forward in your career. One of the many benefits of being part of a group is that you always have someone who can relate to your situation. If I have questions about the business, problems with a client, if I'm frustrated or struggle with the confidence in my own skills, or if I just want to celebrate reaching a goal I know I can turn to my illustration group - and I know they will understand because they have experienced the same things themselves. It makes me feel more secure knowing that I'm not completely alone, even though my colleagues live on the other side of the world.

If you'd like to be a part of a group why don't start one yourself? Contact a few others you know (or would like to know) and ask if they want to create a group with you. You won't regret it!

Most of us would love a few extra hours each day, wouldn't we? I don't think that will happen very soon, so lets focus on how we can save time in our daily routine. Here's my tips:

* Keep your e-mail program closed, and check it only a couple of times each day.

* Write a list over your tasks for the next day. This way you start each morning knowing exactly what to do that day, and you can start getting things done right away.

* Do you have a lot of things on your to-do list that you don't really want to do? Take a look at your list and cross of everything you don't really have to do (remember that you can say no when someone asks for a favor). Focus on what's important for you instead.

Some of the things that inspired me in February:

1. Making patterns of my illustrations. This is so much fun!

2. This interview with the talented author/illustrator Melissa Sweet.

3. Interior design blogs like decor8. I feel so inspired to decorate my house these days. Maybe it's the time of year, getting ready for spring?