Far North Queensland Adventures started with old photos, library books and memories of our trips around Cairns. One afternoon feeding rock wallabies at Granite Gorge became part of the inspiration for a whole cast of characters and their Australian adventure.

How large does the month need to be on an illustrated A4 calendar? I’m weighing up visibility against artwork and space for people to write.

One finished artwork can give you far more than one social media post. Look behind the image at the inspiration, motifs, decisions and difficulties to find five stories worth sharing.

After almost two weeks of trying to make the trees and water work in my January calendar illustration, the answer arrived at 3am: the cassowary didn't need them. Sometimes the solution is taking something away.