From iPad to print: finishing my illustrated 2027 calendar

I have finished all the drawing for my Far North Queensland Adventures calendar. Twelve illustrated pages and the cover. After spending so long working on something this huge, finishing is almost an anti-climax. There’s a moment when you look at it and think, “What do I do now?”

The answer, my friends, is that I take those images into Canva and turn them into an actual calendar. Finishing the drawings is a huge part of the project, but there’s still some distance between the last brushstroke and having something ready for you to hang on your wall.

Turning the illustrations into calendar pages

Each illustration needs its month and days, followed by the dates and boxes where you can write your own plans. The artwork has had most of my attention until now, but the calendar needs to be useful too. There has to be somewhere to put a birthday or remind yourself that you’ve booked something.

I’ve even drawn the shape that sits behind the calendar block. I went with a ripped paper effect so it feels like it belongs with the illustrations. After putting so much work into the artwork, I wanted that part of the page to have the same hand-drawn feel.

It’s a different sort of work from drawing the characters, although there are still decisions to make about how everything sits together. The calendar block needs to be easy to read while leaving room for the adventure happening above it.

A calendar that became a story

When I first decided to create a calendar, I didn’t realise the illustrations would become a continuing story. I knew I wanted to make twelve pages, and my memories of our Far North Queensland adventures gave me somewhere to begin.

As the drawings developed, the backpack became a recurring detail, with the characters collecting souvenirs along their journey. Those little connections carried through to the cover, where there’s a calendar hanging on the Christmas tree. Look carefully and you’ll find the souvenirs in there too.

That’s one of the things I’ve enjoyed about this project. I could plan which animal would appear on a page, but some of the details came along while I was drawing. The finished calendar holds far more of a story than I expected when I started.

Ordering a copy before offering it for sale

Once the pages are assembled, they go into Gelato, the print-on-demand service I’m using. My copy is now ordered, so the next part involves waiting for the post.

I want to see the calendar in print before offering it for sale. I’ve spent so long looking at these illustrations on my iPad that I’m looking forward to finding out how the whole thing feels as a physical calendar. I’ll be checking the pages and making sure the dates are clear, as well as looking at how the artwork has printed.

There’s only so much I can decide from a screen. Having a copy in my hands will let me check the finished result properly and make any adjustments it needs.

Then it’s time for photographs

Once I’m happy with my copy, I’ll take photographs and add some of my own 2027 dates, including birthdays. You’ll be able to see what the calendar looks like with something written in those boxes, ready for a year of real life.

I’ll create some mockups too, then get the website listing ready. There will be emails to write and social media posts to put together so people can find it and buy it.

This is the part that’s easy to forget when you’re absorbed in making something. Finishing the artwork is a milestone worth celebrating, even though there’s more work involved in getting the product into someone else’s hands.

The finish line is in sight

For now, I’m looking forward to opening that parcel. After all those hours with the calendar on my iPad, I can’t wait to turn the pages and see it for real.

If you’re already on my calendar waitlist, I’ll share the photographs with you before the wider launch. If you’d like that first look too, you can join the Far North Queensland Adventures calendar waitlist through my website.

The finish line is almost there. I can see it.