This is a review of what I have done so far and what I still need to do for my FMP.

1. Research

• Books: I collected and read picture books, books about death and hospice, bookbinding books… [TO DO: (A) Analysing those picture books about the concepts, stories, layout, and materials. (B) Write a post about the notes and the parts in the books that inspired me or influenced my work. (C) Write a post about the sample book that I found from National Portrait Gallery.]
• Material: I tried oil pastel, ink and soft pastel for drawing material.  (TO DO: try oil pastel and water colour to see if this is what I want.) I went to art supplies shop and bought some paper for digital printing. Also, I bought some super sticky Post-it notes from Taiwan for the message board. (They are really sticky and can easily stick on boards or walls but still easy to take off without hurting the surface! Amazing invention! Also, I found it interesting that they’re so expensive in the UK but cheap in Taiwan.)
• Exhibition: Life, Death and Memory (TO DO: write a post about the visit and what I learnt.)
• Visit: Laima Picture Book Art Gallery (TO DO: write a post about the visit and what I learnt.)
• Feedback: the tutorial with Gary, peer review with Sayuri, feedback of my concept from my family…(TO DO: write posts about the feedback and what I learnt.)

2. Decision/ Plan

• Picture/ Illustrated book: drawing by hand, scan or photo the pictures into digital images, edit text on the images with InDesign, print out on digital printing papers, binding the paper together into the shape of an envelope to make it into a book.
• Material: oil pastel, water colour or acrylic, paper (drawing, printing), thick paperboard (for envelope cover), book cloth (for book cover), sticky notes…
• Story: the characters will be Taiwan macaque (the special monkey which can only be found in Taiwan). (TO DO: write another post about the reason why I choose Taiwan macaque as my character.)
• Exhibition: I will hang three to five selected and framed illustration on one side of the wall, and put a display table in front of it for the picture book. On the other side of the wall, I’ll paint the wall or hang a real board as the message board. I’ll put another table in front of it and place some sticky notes and pens on it for the audience to write down their messages.