The Circus is Coming to Town

Need someone popped off? Knocked off? Snuffed out? Disappeared with extreme prejudice?

Well, you're in luck, because the circus is coming.

This is my first project for my concept development class this quarter. We were basically given an hour to work on a random concept of our choosing...and well, I thought that a circus of assassins would be fun.

This project was huge and has been stressing me out for days as I tried to find time to finish it, but I DID finish it and am, overall, happy with how it came out. I'm very happy with the characters. A little less so with the composition, but not strictly UNhappy either. I had fun with this.

Because there is a lot of light and shadow, and some small details, here is our cast of characters:

Farthest to the left, in front is the knife-thrower, Maxmillian. He uses...well, knives...to kill people. He is assisted by his ever faithful monkey companion, Bob.
Directly behind Max is the one of the circus tigers, Orion. Feeding bodies to the tigers serves two purposes...disposes of bodies AND cuts down on tiger feed bills.
Behind the tiger is Jade, one half of the asian sword bearing, sash climbing pair of twins employed by circque de Meurtre.
Looking again to the front of the ring, you see Skitch. Seriously, I'm not sure how he got mixed up with a group like this. He's a very nice dog. He wants a 10 year old boy to catch frogs with, not sharp objects to balance on his nose. And no dog likes to wear a tutu.
In the center ring, we have, on the left, Jenine. She has watched way too much Sailor Moon, but despite her flowing blond pigtails is a wicked shot with her spiky-balls-on-ribbons. Sharing the ring with her is Tabitha. She hates Sailor Moon, but she likes cookies. And is equally good at killing people, but her technique is entirely different. I can't describe it. You'd have to see it.
Moving again to the front row of our dysfunctional little family we have Princess Muffinhead. She chose that name for herself when she ran away from home at age 5. That was two years ago. She is a disturbed child (but you could probably guess that...) She equally enjoys her work in the clown troupe and slitting throats in the dark of night with the daggers she keeps in her boots.
Behind her stands the patriarch of them all, The master. He is the protector and the discipliner, the head honcho, the man in charge. He excels at drama and showmanship, both in the ring, and in dark alleys.
In front of him and to his right stands Sapphire, and her snake Blue. She is a master of all kinds of poison and has been known to cause men to loose consciousness due to lack of blood entering the brain with her dancing alone.
Jacque, the mime, is not French. He was born Jack Miller in a small town in the midwest. He wishes he was French, and in an attempt to prove his Frenchness, he smokes, drinks, mimes, and is very rude. No one is fooled. But he's an artist with a knife.
Jaqueline actually IS French. This is the only reason that Jacque stays with her. She is bitterly jealous of Sapphire and wishes she would choke on her stupid poisons. Jacqueline takes comfort in the knowledge that ANYONE can shake their booty and drop some poison in someone's drink, but her mastery of tightrope acrobatics and use of them in her chosen career (assassin) are an artform.
Stephan the clown. No one knows much about him. He talks less than the mime. (which really doesn't take much, since Jacque is a bit of a rambler) All anyone really knows about him is that he likes things that burn and explode. No one even knows his age, and it's hard to guess, since he never lets himself be seen out of costume.
Behind him, hanging from the ceiling is the other half of the pair of twins. Jasmine is fast as lightning and graceful as a rock, except when she's in the air, and there she soars like a bird. She's really a sweet kid, aside from the killing people thing. She and Jade often go to coffee with Jacquiline and have girl talk.
On the far right is Ezekiel. He is also from the midwest, but a different part than Jacque. He kills rather indiscriminately. Never accept food or drink or an invitation back to his place or for a stroll or a handshake...honestly, best to just steer clear of Zeke. He's not quite right.

Now quiet...the show is about to start.
And you better hope that you aren't the audience participant tonight...

EDIT***
If you care and/or are interested at all, I posted on my blog a description of the process. It may amuse no one but me. But if you want to see it, it's here:
[link]