2017 Illustrated Colouring Calendar by Kelly O'Gorman

17/11/2016

Kelly O'Gorman is a pen-and-ink illustrator from Hertfordshire in the UK, whose work has been displayed in exhibitions all over the country as well as on an alternative clothing line. Her first colouring book, The A-Z of Creative Colouring, was released this year and will shortly be reviewed on this blog.

The 2017 Colouring Calendar contains 12 calendar pages each featuring Kelly's hand-illustrated interpretation of a star sign. The pages also have a grid design calendar at the bottom which is labelled with common holidays & occasions like Halloween, as well as lesser known events like Human Rights Day.

The illustrations are absolutely stunning and will appeal to the majority of colourists. Their whimsical nature is perfect for the subject matter, all made up of flowing lines, florals and interesting details that the eye doesn't catch straight away, allowing you to discover them as you colour. Here is a slideshow of all 12 months:

The calendar itself is huge! It measures 42.5 cm x 29.8 cm, roughly A3 in size. It is ring bound at the top with a hanging loop so that you can display it on the wall and remove easily to turn each month. The paper is a very thick cardstock that has a slight tooth on the surface to blend coloured pencils, and can take markers, paint and other wet media without buckling. Each page is printed on one side so bleed-through is not an issue.

The calendar grid has 4 cm x 1.7 cm boxes for you to write appointments, and is labelled from Monday - Sunday. Each illustration is also captioned with the month, star sign name, its meaning and the dates this star sign represents. The cover is also completely colourable and features 6 of the zodiac signs as well as some nature-inspired illustrations at each corner.

Best of all, this calendar is under £10! I was shocked to find it was so cheap, as the quality of both the designs and the production is very good. Here is my finished calendar!