The Animation Smears Book: Uncovering Film’s Most Elusive Technique

Throughout cinema, there have been various techniques to depict motion, and one style in particular is the fascinating use of smears in animation. Incredibly popular and captivating to artists, these animation smears are frames that creatively replicate motion blur captured on film which is the phenomena that we commonly observe in our everyday life.

The vast world of different techniques for smears are explored in this book, expanding way beyond their commonly believed starting point in the 1940s to their actual origins that date back to the beginning of art history with illustrations and prototypes that led to their usage in some of the earliest known theatrical animations.

The Animation Smears Book: Uncovering Film’s Most Elusive Technique is a comprehensive guide that provides extensive information on the stylistic and creative aspects of smears and their impact on how they make use of the way we perceive motion. Additionally, it also reveals the names of artists who helped develop them and the original techniques that they used.

Thoroughly examined by a professional animator, the animation smear is discussed how it is such a versatile technique used in all forms of animation including 3D and stop-motion. It answers all of your questions that you ever had about them and brings clarity to this simple yet mysterious trick that has puzzled fans, scholars, and historians for centuries

Christian Avender is a Canadian industry animator with experience on shows from Netflix, Paramount, Warner Bros. and more. Independently researched since 2011, the author provides a better understanding of a commonly overlooked art technique that is still being used in animation today. With years of animation history experience, university education and citing from actual different examples of smears, the author provides a comprehensive understanding of this art technique than ever detailed before in a publication. As an active member of the animation industry and productions, the book features collaborations with other artists and workers to help with the design and to showcase the versatility of animation smears in different settings. With over a dozen animation techniques, it provides as a valuable resource for art institutions as well as serve as a bigger picture alongside other instructional books in animation. The author shows how a larger understanding of action and motion blur in art has been sitting dormant for years, as it is revealed in this book which is the first of its kind dedicated exclusively to the underappreciated art of animation smears.