Gods? I can only assume as much.
And who are these Gods? LeSean Thomas and Seung Eun Kim, artists, and I mean that in the most respectful sense, behind The Boondocks TV show. The Boondocks happens to be one of my favorite series of all time. Aaron McGruder is clearly a genius but he also surrounded himself with uber-talented people.
After a long night down the Tumblr rabbit hole I stumbled across links to these artist's DeviantArt pages. It was one of those rare occasions when I didn't feel I had wasted tons of hours on the internet. This was something special. Here's just two of their rough sketches:
Posterous' photo uploader is wonky right now. You should click each of their names to check out the fantastic detail in their works. If you want to see more I've linked to each of the artist's DeviantArt pages.
Look at the craft. Just look at it. Even in this rough state the characters have so much more emotion that I could hope to conjure out of a fully realized art piece of my own. I'm not sure if I've seen ads this well executed in the past few years. (Heaven and Hell for Samsonite might be one obvious exception to this massive blanket statement.)
When we got the storyboards for the Lunchables commercial I worked on my heart leapt out of my chest. Yes, words on a page are wonderful. Yes, it's great to see people appreciate what I wrote. But when we got those boards the spot came alive. Sure, there was some tweaking to do (there will always be tweaking).
McGruder was known for being EXTREMELY meticulous with every aspect of the show, even having the characters change clothes depending on location. This sadly, inevitably, lead to the early demise of one of the most culturally important shows on television. But it's in these rough stages where an idea starts to look like something real.
And that is a feeling that, unless you have felt it, I can't possibly convey through a blog post. Not a blog post of 150 words or 1,500 words. Even looking at the pictures of the shot board on the shoot makes me giddy.
It also says something so, so powerful about story. A few simple lines on a page. A few flicks of a pencil can create entire worlds. Some of the most evocative art, in my opinion, leaves most of the work to the person viewing it. It gives just enough information to let you know what it's about then, like the very best written works, allows your big beautiful brain to fill in all that empty space. It's mind expanding. It's mind bending. Who needs drugs when you've got roughs?
Certainly not me. Honestly. These are the essence of the people who brought this show to life. I love it and I'm so glad I found it because I haven't loved anything with this kind of enthusiasm for a long time.
EDIT: Here's LeSean Thomas's site. It's a joy to browse through.