CalArts first year Tom Moore had this video posted on his blog. It's Ferrofluid (liquid metal baby!) and it reminds me of Venom. Too bad the movie version of everyone's favorite Marvel baddy wasn't half as cool as this real life magnet goo.
And just for kicks, a couple other spectacular, uncanny, and all-around amazing science clips. Science rules!

Doc Ock
Electro

Chades Challenge II: Elderly Mermaids
Once every two weeks, a couple of artists choose one word each (one a noun, the other an adjective). The combined words form the subject of the following weeks' Chades (CHAracter DESign) Challenge. At the end of each week, all Chades Challengers post their skullduggery on their respective blogs and many a good laugh is had.

THE CHALLENGERS ARE:
Ben Adams
Josh Billings
Emma Coats
Steve MacLeod
Adrian Molina
Laura Jane Murphy
Vi-Dieu Nguyen
Bobby Pontillas
Moro Rogers
Robbie 'The Robot' Thompson
Lissa Treiman
Nate Wragg
and introducing
The Mighty Gerenuk

Also, he was a little late to the game, but Leo Matsuda has come in swinging with a truly sweet deformed sorcerors story. I challenge any of you who feel the urge to do so, embrace storyboarding in all its awesomeness. Go Brazil!

The theme is 'Elderly Mermaids' for one more week. So push the idea, explore the concept to its very limits, and post again on June 15. At that time, two new Chades Champions will be chosen to select the next theme. Sketch greatly!

TyrannoSLOWrus rex
According to a recent yahoo article, paleontologists built a model of a tyrannosaur skeleton to estimate its center of gravity and thusly its range of speed and motion. The study shows t-rex was probably not the lively man-about-town we see in Jurassic Park, but more of a hulky, lumbering juggernaut who had difficulty turning quickly and whose leg muscles were not large enough for fast running. To me, this means t-rex is just a little bit more like Darth Vader, and I'm alright with that! More importantly, for any of you looking to animate a therapod like the mighty tyrant lizard king, there's a handy breakdown of how dinosaurs may have walked. Science rules.

THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER
I'm sure this is old news (except to those of you with exceedingly slow owls), but Universal Orlando is creating a Harry Potter theme park. How friggin' awesome is that?? The park is budgeted at over $265 million, and is scheduled to open in 2010. Here's some Kinkadesque conceptual art of the Nerd Mecca. Enjoy!

This is why I agree with Adrian that a Captain Planet movie would be awesome. I still don't think Galactus should be a storm cloud, though, that's just weak sauce.

Nate and Rob have elected our next Chades Challenge: ELDERLY MERMAIDS. Post your merfolk on your blog on Friday, June 8. Happy sketching.

A couple of folks have expressed an interest in joining our weekly Chades (CHAracter DESign) Challenges, so I'll be posting the weekly subject on this here blog for everyone to see. Two different sketcheteers will be choosing the words (a noun and adjective) on a friday, and we'll have a week to do as many drawings on the subject as possible. On the following friday, we'll all post our art on our own blogs, this way people will go to eachother's blogs more often to check out what's new, promoting community and all that jazz. I'll post a list of people who participate each week so you know where to hunt for inspiration. After we've all seen eachother's drawings of glory (and allotted the appropriate compliments and reprimands), we will have one more week on that same subject too push it and 'borrow' eachother's designs to explore them as thoroughly as possible. On the following friday, we'll post the final drawings on the subject, and two new artists will elect a new theme. Capiche?

Check in tomorrow for 'Deformed Sorcerers' from

Vi-Dieu Nguyen

Rob Thompson

Austin Madison