The Artist

I've blocked out her body and dress now so I don't spend too much time on the 2D concept as I'd like to see how some of the ideas translate to 3D. I've borrowed her proportions off of ball jointed dolls but find that a head that does have some prominent realistic contours looks odd against the body's proportions so I'll keep fiddling with that and further anatomical corrections.

From here on, I'm looking at tacking between concepting as I go in 3D to explore some shapes and silhouettes I may find interesting since 3D helps me visualise things somewhat. 

After looking around for further images and gathering first impressions from others, I have settled on developing the ink magician further.

To combine elements of creepy and mysterious, I relied heavily on something to hide the face, but should it be revealed, I wanted it to be slightly offputting to whoever saw it.

I wanted to work in some potentially creepy faces that children drew on What's Her Face dolls from the early 2000s. Testing it out on simply rounded faces looked more ridiculous than creepy so I've moved towards heads that have maintained a semblance of the contours of the human face. I would like to maintain a sense that a child had a hand in giving her a face though because that connection gives her an 'in' with them even if others may perceive her as too scary.

I'm a little undecided as to what final pose I'd like to aim for, but will start blocking out the body in 3D as I think this through a bit.

For this challenge, I wanted to concept and create a character. I had ideas for 2 potential characters.

1) A ragdoll daredevil: The most versatile and valuable member of the circus (as the owner does not have to worry about injuries and risk of performer death). They are a living ragdoll, with no sense of physical pain or fear, and are able to stitch themself back up after the rare occasion of a normally fatal accident. They perform stunts, trapeze, tightrope and fire acts (although they avoid fire acts if possible because they burn easily and the aftermath is messy).

2) A faceless ink magician: One of the more mysterious members of the circus whose face is always hidden and never speaks. She is recognised for her ever-changing inky black dress and eerie silence. She conjures inky creations from a seemingly endless pool of ink through a combination of dance and gestures. Most people find her scary.