Character Contest 48: The Circus is in Town!

I have a cool idea for a character team contest, but I'll have to keep it in my back pocket (currently kept on Facebook) for a few weeks as I have a different idea for this week, then we'll probably do Halloween. So be warned!

In the meantime, I have a new challenge for you all -- design the coolest character illustration or other scene somehow depicting the concept of a carnival or circus! Bearded ladies, strong men, lion tamers, killer clowns, ringleaders, trick horse riders, general carnies, Captain Cotton and Candy, if it's associated with circuses or carnivals, it's fair game.

The person with the winning entry as selected by our expert panel (i.e. me) will win their choice of either a portrait or item to go in HeroMachine 3, or a custom black and white "Sketch of the Day" style drawing (also by me). The rules otherwise are the same as always:

  • All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the UGO Forums, whatever);
  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • The image cannot have been used in any previous HeroMachine character design contest;
  • Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
  • Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). If you see "preview" or "rotate" somewhere in the link you're probably doing it wrong.
  • All entries must be in by next Monday, when I'll choose a winner, who will receive his or her choice of any item or a portrait to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 program, or a "Sketch of the Week" style black and white illustration.

Good luck everyone!