Okay, so I wanted to make a Chinese zodiac calendar for 2004. I’ve always been kind of fascinated by the zodiac, and I figured it would be a fun little project.
First, I looked up what the animal was for 2004. Turns out, it was the Monkey. Cool, I like monkeys!
Getting Started
- I decided to make a simple, printable calendar. Nothing too fancy, just something I could hang up on my fridge.
- I grabbed a piece of paper and started sketching out some ideas. I wanted it to be visually appealing, not just a bunch of dates.
The Process
I figured I’d start with a basic grid for the months. I drew that out, making sure to leave enough space for each day. Then, I looked up the exact dates for the Chinese New Year in 2004. I think it was in January that year, but I had to double-check.
Next, I added in little monkey illustrations throughout the calendar. I’m not the best artist, so I kept them pretty simple. Just little cartoony monkeys, nothing too detailed. I added some simple colors, and filled them. I also marked the Chinese New Year date with a bigger, more prominent monkey.
I also wanted to include the element associated with the year. So I did a little more searching and found out that 2004 was a Wood Monkey year. I added that to the top of the calendar, along with “2004”.
Finishing Up
Once I had all the basics down, I spent some time just cleaning it up. I erased any stray pencil marks and made sure the lines were neat. I even added a little border around the whole thing to make it look a bit more polished.
Finally, I was pretty happy with how it turned out! It’s not perfect, but it’s a fun, personalized Chinese zodiac calendar for 2004. And I made it myself, which is always a good feeling. It really was a fun project and a good way to spend an afternoon.
