February 3rd Thursday. Love is a teddy bear.

[amberwingart]

Wow. This is really beautiful work...I hope you'll share more process pics with us - what a treat!

[mattramsey]

@shinjifujioka agree that raincoats are cool. it could be turned into a cute regular coat?

but it wouldn't be the same.
even if it was yellow.

if you do decide to go without the raincoat (which isn't a must) I'd ditch the hood to really sell the idea of "exposure." Yes, the hood is very nice but if you are already sacrificing the raincoat you might as well push the idea as far as you can within reason.

EDIT: Compromise: Try a version with no raincoat for the 3rd Thursday piece and one with for your portfolio. Just another idea.

[Dulcie]

I think @mattramsey makes an excellent suggestion, and I like the compromise idea of one version for 3rd Thurs and another for your portfolio, if you're really keen to paint a girl in a raincoat. Your overall picture and drawing skills are just so lovely - it's really so nice! ...but in terms of being competitive for the 'love' prompt I think that would improve it. I mean, I get that all children love their toys...but if you love something so much that you would sacrifice your own comfort for theirs, that is a really strong love indeed...and that transcends the idea of a child loving a toy.

[shinjifujioka]

@mattramsey @Dulcie I like the two version idea. I'll give it a shot and see if I can do it justice

[bernadetta]

Wow! It's really beautiful!!!

[Will Terry]

I like the drawing - interesting to see how you finish it...

[Beatriz "Bett"]

She could have a raincoat with no hood. The umbrella would have been her cover.

[shinjifujioka]

Done for now. I'll revisit it a day or two before 3rd Thursday. Thoughts? Right now I don't have the mental capacity to do a version without the raincoat...

[bharris]

I don't see a reason to take out the rain coat. It's a beautiful image and extremely well done! I love your primary color scheme, the patched up bear..... just everything really!

[Naroth Kean]

Totally love this piece and the color is really nice! I think the raincoat is necessary as it helps to focus on the girl and help to fight the background attention grabbers. Great job!

[Leontine]

@shinjifujioka Its just great Shinji! Love the colourpalet, the comp, and the details! chapeau!

[JajaJulie]

This is amazing. I really like how it's not just the little girl showing affection to her bear but also the momma bird sheltering the little one on top of the toy store. The detail is so well done! Great job @shinjifujioka!

[Thrace]

@shinjifujioka All I can say is WOW! I am so in awe of your work, you are amazing!!

[Charlie Eve Ryan]

@shinjifujioka I LOVE this piece, so charming and heartfelt and I love the characters, the rain and the reflection in the puddles! So awesome!

If you are going to revisit it I would maybe just tone down the colors on the animals in the window and the frame and let the bear and boy POP. And/or maybe try to make the glass just a bit hazy since you probably could not see all the toys so clearly in the window from the angle.

If not, this is an amazing piece so do as you see fit!!

[Rich Green]

@shinjifujioka Absolutely beautiful. Even the more subtle details like the weathering/aging on the down spout are fantastic - just such a wonderful piece. You are extremely talented!

[Rich Green]

@shinjifujioka Also I love the Helmet and Hound are tucked in this scene now too! Very clever.

[shinjifujioka]

@bharris
@Naroth-Kean
@Leontine
@JajaJulie
@Thrace
@Charlie-Eve-Ryan
@Rich-Green

Thanks everyone!

Also, good eye, Rich!

[mattramsey]

@shinjifujioka just a quick paint over with the no hood idea. Plus I added some reflection to the window (which I think there would be--but maybe not as strong as I have it). The reflection also might serve to "calm down" the background a bit and bring more focus on the main characters (as @Charlie-Eve-Ryan mentioned).
The only thing on that is: I really love the vibrant background so I'm not really sure about that change.

@bharris the reason to take out the raincoat/remove the hood is to more strongly push the love concept (love is sacrifice). It isn't that it (i.e. the raincoat and hood) somehow is detracts from the image at all. But the idea that the girl is willing to get rained on to protect her bear is pretty powerful IMO.

[shinjifujioka]

@mattramsey I'm not able to view the paintover...I wonder if that's just an issue with my computer?

[mattramsey]

@shinjifujioka weird.

I wonder if anyone else can see it.

Here is the photobucket link if that helps: http://s96.photobucket.com/user/lemonween/media/shinjiFeb3rd-thur-crit-small.gif.html?sort=3&o=0

I may have done something wrong but it is showing up for me. It's a .gif saved for web viewing. That might be the issue. Not sure.

Let me know if that link doesn't work. I'll try submitting a .jpg