Initial Ideas - Characters

You know, all this talk of circus, masks and show makes me want characters. To be honest, out of characters and environments, it's probably the one I'm more passionate and comfortable with. Maybe I'll do characters instead. Or perhaps one or two characters with a small backdrop?

Anyway, I was thinking of people I could use as reference, and I realized I have many fantastic and beautiful friends I can use as reference.
The two that first came to mind are my dear friend Ashleigh Williams...

...and my beautiful cousin Sara O'Neill.

Both of these lovlies have agreed to letting me take reference pictures of them. I picked them because both are indeed beautiful, but both have very interesting faces. Sara has a sharp nose, a round face and a cleft in her chin. Ashleigh has a high nose bridge, big eyes and an interesting-shaped mouth.They have character - I don't want generic game faces. 

And yes, I will be putting masks on them, but I'd like the option to be able to take them off.

Another reason I picked them - both are in fashion: Ash is a contour student and Sara is a professional stylist. What this means is that, as well as having first-hand reference of these two, they can offer advice with costumes and make-up, and can even give me feedback and help on improving my designs. Another pro: both are absolutely fine in giving me nude or nearly nude reference. If you didn't already know, models tend to walk around naked backstage, so these poor ladies are more then used to it (which is good news for me).

I've already had a photo session with Ash. A few of the head-shots are shown below:

She looks quite French, eh?

I have started doodling Ashleigh. I think I'd like her to be a contortionist or a dancer.

Did you know I joined a dance class? I'm awful. However, I could always ask if I could sit out one week so I can take photos of the other dancers as reference. The ballet class would be a good one to sit in on. I'll ask next week.

...I want a male character too. I'll have to keep an eye out.