A short time ago, I reviewed Numberblocks, the new CBeebies show starring the number pals of the Alphablocks, who make their own kind of magic by jumping on top of each other to make new, bigger numbers. While it hasn’t quite yet reached the level of popularity (at least with its very young target audience) as its parent show, it has nevertheless become a hit with both kids and parents alike in teaching them their 123s as well as their ABCs.
And with me, they’ve also gone down the same path as their letter friends in Alphaland… by becoming human!
Humanized Cast of Numberblocks
Humanized Cast of Numberblocks (Part 2)
Just like the humanized versions of their letter pals, the humanized Numberblocks take their looks, colours and personalities from their block forms. Although they do have eyes, mouths, arms and legs in block form, I decided that they’d have a lot more character if they were real people – sort of like if Lego characters become actual humans.
Unlike the humanized Alphablocks, however, the humanized Numberblocks don’t have ‘real’ names or ages. I thought it would be pretty silly if the Numberblocks were the same age as the number they’re supposed to represent, which would mean One would be one year old, Two would be two years old, and so on. The humanized versions of them look and act much older than that! 😉
Almost all of the human Numberblocks wear glasses; this is because I saw the little rims around their eyes when in block form as glasses – it’s most obvious on Two. Five and Ten’s glasses were probably the most fun to draw, since they have stars around their eyes, and I thought they could wear those ‘showbiz’ star spectacles in their human forms. (Which fits Five perfectly, since she plays in a band.) Three, being a clown, has a red hat and buttons, but no red nose in sight. She is the only one of the human Numberblocks who doesn’t wear glasses, because have you ever seen a clown wearing glasses? 😁
As with the humanized forms of their letter pals, I’m planning to create screenshot redraws of the Numberblocks show, replacing the blocks with my humanized versions of the Numberblocks:
Numberblocks – Screenshot Redraw 001
One & Two Watching Three Juggling Apples
My sister’s also drawn the humanized Numberblocks:
Humanized Cast of Numberblocks (Melissa’s Version)
And one of her friends has even drawn the humanized Three in a ‘realistic’ style:
A short while ago, I reviewed Alphablocks in full after briefly mentioning it in my post on Autistic Pride Day – the adventures of 26 people who personify each letter of the alphabet, living in a magical land which fills up when they hold hands to spell out words. This helps little children everywhere – though particularly in its native England – learn their ABCs, and also the valuable skills of reading, writing and spelling via seeing these colourful characters interact with each other and their world.
Alphablocks Alphabet
As fun as it is to see the letters of the alphabet personified to help kids learn those precious life skills that are so needed in the modern world, I decided the Alphablock characters themselves needed a little more personality and humanity to them. So as I got into Alphablocks, I decided to turn all of them human.
Humanized Cast of Alphablocks
And this was what came out of my efforts to humanize Alphablocks. While designing what they might look like if they were human, I took the colours and clothes they ‘wear’, special traits and their personalities into consideration, then transferred those onto the humanized versions. Some were more straightforward to design than others, who had a more complex look.
The human Alphablocks’ looks are mainly based on their colour(s), with their outfits using the colour(s) of their ‘bodies’ when in their usual block form. For those who have two or more colours, I made their clothes have each one of those colours (as with J and K), or drew them as stripes (as with A, O, T and U).
The human Alphablocks also take some of their characterizations from their personalities or jobs (see my review on Alphablocks for each letter’s character bio), so F wears a spacesuit as she is an astronaut, M wears a chef’s hat and apron since he is a chef (pretty obvious), and X is a superhero and so wears a cape and mask. V is slightly different in his human form than in his block form; in my humanized version of him, he wears a pair of rollerblades to signify his love of going fast, though he still keeps his helmet and overall appearance of a racecar driver. (P and S were probably the most fun to draw, since they have many colours!)
Since drawing this artwork, I’ve not stopped with my humanized versions of the Alphablocks – I draw them for screenshot redraws of the actual Alphablocks show, replacing the block versions with the human versions:
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 004
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 008
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 012
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 005
Alphablocks – Screenshot Redraw 024
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 001
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 015
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 009
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 006
Alphablocks – Screenshot Redraw 025
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 016
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 011
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 018
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 019
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 017
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 013
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 003
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 002
Alphablocks – Screenshot Redraw 023
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 014
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 020
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 021
Alphablocks: Screenshot Redraw 007
Alphablocks – Screenshot Redraw 010
Alphablocks – Screenshot Redraw 022
B, C, D, E & F in a Field
B, U & S Looking Shocked
C, H & A Dancing Together
D & P in a Field
F Frightened by E
G, I, R & L in a Field
G & O Sliding Down a Rainbow
The Big Black Dot Bounces on H
I Showing Off with H, J & K
H, E & N in a Field
N Watching I Sing
I, A & Y with an Apple
K Passes the Big Black Dot to L
The Big Black Dot Bounces on N
L Sleeping in a Sunny Field
L & A in a Dark Starry Field
M, J, I & N Resting
N, O, P, Q & R Singing in a Sunny Field
The Big Black Dot Jumps on to R
O & X Playing Noughts & Crosses
The Big Black Dot Lands in T’s Tea
R, E & D in the Sunset
N Looking Proud at S, I & T
V, A & N Holding Hands
X Holds the Big Black Dot
And I’ve even thought up human names for the Alphablock characters:
A – Anneeka (originally Annie)
B – Beatrice
C – Charleen
D – Dennis
E – Edwin (originally Eddie)
F – Fern
G – Geraldine
H – Harriet (originally Henrietta)
I – Iris
J – Julieanne
K – Kieran (originally Kiaran, with a second “A”)
L – Livia
M – Marcus
N – Nicholas (originally Nathan)
O – Oliver (originally Oscar)
P – Petunia (originally Patricia)
Q – Quinnella
R – Ruby
S – Serena
T – Terence
U – Upton (originally Unity)
V – Victor
W – Walter
X – Xander (originally Xavier)
Y – Yohann
Z – Zachariah
And my sister’s also been getting into the Alphablocks groove:
Humanized Cast of Alphablocks (Melissa’s Version)
Who would’ve thought I’d get this deep into a little kids’ TV show, let alone myself, or my family? 😉
In the last exhibition, I introduced The States Show, a spin-off of the American Boys series personifying each of the 50 states of America, just as its parent series personified American cities, towns and villages.
When I first drew these (then-) new characters, I first drew them as colourful jelly babies to help me get a vision of how they would look. (I still use the ‘jelly-babying’ technique sometimes today, as you’ll find out sometime in the future.)
The States Show Jelly Babies
The States Show Jelly Babies
However, jelly babies obviously don’t leave much in the way of facial features and personality, so I needed to make the State Boys more human. Thus, I got onto the rather painstaking task of drawing all 50 (or 51) of them as real people, not mere coloured blobs. (Puerto Rico was drawn a little bit later than the rest of the states, as he would be a new character for the movie All the Magic of Puerto Rico… which I still haven’t explained yet as of writing this post. Also, some states appear more than once because they have an alternative look or outfit.)
Alaska as a Real Person
Alabama as a Real Person
Arkansas as a Real Person
Arizona as a Real Person
California as a Real Person
Colorado as a Real Person
Connecticut as a Real Person
The District of Columbia as a Real Person
Delaware as a Real Person
Florida as a Real Person
Georgia as a Real Person
Hawaii as a Real Person
Iowa as a Real Person
Idaho as a Real Person
Illinois as a Real Person
Indiana as a real person
Kansas as a Real Person
Kentucky as a Real Person
Louisiana as a Real Person
Massachusetts as a Real Person
Maryland as a Real Person
Maine as a Real Person
Michigan as a Real Person
Minnesota as a Real Person
Missouri as a Real Person
Mississippi as a Real Person
Montana as a Real Person
North Carolina as a Real Person
North Dakota as a Real Person
Nebraska as a Real Person
New Hampshire as a Real Person
New Jersey as a Real Person
New Mexico as a Real Person
Nevada as a Real Person
New York as a Real Person
Ohio as a Real Person
Oklahoma as a Real Person
Oregon as a Real Person
Pennsylvania as a Real Person
Puerto Rico as a Real Person
Rhode Island as a Real Person (Baby)
Rhode Island as a Real Person (Teenager)
South Carolina as a Real Person
South Dakota as a Real Person
Tennessee as a Real Person (Normal Form)
Tennessee as a Real Person (Magical Form)
Texas as a Real Person
Utah as a Real Person
Virginia as a Real Person (Normal Form)
Virginia as a Real Person (Flamenco Dancer)
Vermont as a Real Person
Washington as a Real Person
Wisconsin as a Real Person
West Virginia as a Real Person
Wyoming as a Real Person
Wonder why I said “something a little bit different” at the beginning? This is the first-ever exhibition on my blog comprised completely of digitally-created, rather than traditional pencil-and-paper, art. There will be a lot more exhibitions which only contain digital art in the future, which will help to expand my creative portfolio.
Surfing the Sea 