Dogfoose.com (Michael Kline) � children’s books

Infotoons on YouTube

mikey — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:14:23 +0000

Here’s a little YouTube portfolio piece I just put together. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The Kalahari

mikey — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:59:04 +0000

The Kalahari desert in Southern Africa has to be the largest sandbox in the world, covering some 350,000 square miles. A great place to play with your Tonka trucks, but you might want to come prepared. Temperatures go from 117°F in the summer to 8°F in the winter!

Creativity

mikey — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:11:10 +0000

It’s all around us. The secret is knowing what to look for…

Gregor Mendel’s Pea Plants

mikey — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:38:24 +0000

Austrian monk and avid Gardener Gregor Mendel is credited for discovering why tall plants (in his case, pea) don’t always produce tall offspring, nor do smaller plants. (From Kids Discover Cells.) Click for a larger image…

Coloring books were never like this.

mikey — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:52:29 +0000

Here’s a fun little video I made. It’s time-lapse of a project I’m working on for a production entitled Diversity Circus. It’s an illustration of a trick using a broom, where–if you keep your elbows bent–no one will be able to push you off your spot. Lots of physics going on here.

I don’t recall how many times I changed the color of the broom handle, but it’s pretty obvious I wasn’t pleased with the first few. Enjoy!

There’s SNOW business like climate business…

mikey — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 15:26:39 +0000

Unlike humans who can travel and adapt to new environments, animals do not always have that luxury. The loss of sea ice to a polar bear can be devastating. You could liken the situation to an alligator trying to survive in the mountains of Colorado.

Art Director’s Quiz

mikey — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:57:31 +0000

Highlighted RED in the story in the image below (click for a larger version) are words that describe items within the image, but instead of being literal clues, they are phonetic puns. As an example, for the word apparent, think “a parent.” See how many words and images you can match. When you think you’ve solved it (or if you need some help), drop me a note here and I’ll let you in on the surprise.

Plate Tectonics

mikey — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 16:03:18 +0000

The earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan were a result of plate tectonics, or large scale movement of the Earth’s crust. The major plates are African, Antarctic, Australian, Eurasian, Indian, North American, South American, and Pacific. The minor plates (of which there can be many) include Arabian, Caribbean, Juan De Fuca, Cocos, Nazca, Philippine, and Scotia. Click the map for a larger image.

Cut & Dried

mikey — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:28:13 +0000

When Kids Discover magazine asked me to illustrate the process by which a wound heals, I pretty much knew how I wanted to approach it. The only thing that plagued me was how to replicate the whorled pattern of fingerprints—until I uncovered some old topographic maps. If you look closely, some of the elevation callouts are still visible. And of course, no illustration is complete without the occasional pun. Click for a larger image… (Text © Kids Discover Skin)

Creativity

mikey — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:36:39 +0000

I’ll be presenting a one-hour class on creativity for Butler Community College’s Free Class Day, April 2nd (I believe). I pulled off the video below in one shot. Can you guess how?

The creative mind: How it works, when it doesn’t, and other rhetorical hoo haa

When does creativity strike? Who knows? Award-winning children’s magazine author/illustrator Michael Kline takes you on a one-hour tour of how the creative mind works, when it doesn’t, and gives you the formula for bringing a creative approach to everything, from grocery shopping to world domination, for CEO’s and Soccer Moms. To wit: If you’ve ever used the phrase “Thinking outside the box,” then you’re already late to the party. There never was a box…