Smudge Animation LLC

Coming soon to the Muskegeon Museum of Art... June 6 to September 27.

HerStory of Animation - Muskegon Museum of Art Home Calendar HerStory of Animation HerStory of Animation The groundbreaking exhibition, HerStory of Animation: Mary Blair & Beyond, re-defines our collected animated past by revealing the story of unsung forces of animation: women. In a first-of-its-kind exhibition, women’s contributions to the a...

"It's March and that means two things: taxes and butterflies!"

Animated Events: Butterflies are Blooming, part 1 It's March and that means two things: taxes and butterflies! One of the things that I teach my students during my end-of-semester profession...

2025, the year in review
December is here. As the holiday season is in full swing and the end of the year rapidly approaches, I find myself looking back before looking forward. No small amount of time this year was spent looking at and learning about art--not just appreciating but trying to gain a greater understanding of the how's and the why's of these works.

2025, the year in review December is here. As the holiday season is in full swing and the end of the year rapidly approaches, I find myself looking back before looki...

So I'm working on research for an assignment that I'll be using in my History of Animation class--one that fills in gaps within the textbook we're using. No shade here, there's only so much you can cover within a reasonable page-count. It's a problem I'm sure that every historian struggles with...

Animated Thoughts: Animation in Advertising So I'm working on research for an assignment that I'll be using in my History of Animation class--one that fills in gaps within the textbo...

So I'm posting this on the blog a little earlier than I normally would. Hoping that it'll give everyone a couple extra weeks to get to the Dragon Forest event at the Detroit Zoo.

Animated Events: Dragon Forest at the Detroit Zoo Dragon Forest at the Detroit Zoo So I'm posting this on the blog a little earlier than I normally would. Hoping that it'll give everyone a c...

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, Erik's lessons didn't stop when the class period was over. He would check in with us off and on during the week, even when we weren't taking one of his classes that quarter...

Animated People: Erik Timmerman As I'm sure I've mentioned before, Erik's lessons didn't stop when the class period was over. He would check in with us off and on during th...

So for years now I've watched Ralph Bakshi dipping into his vault of production material and offering it for sale on eBay. I vividly remember being at Ottawa thirteen years ago when Ralph was brought in as a guest. Back then, I paged through a beautiful binder of cels and production drawings from his films like Hey Good Lookin', Lord of the Rings, and Wizards, all for sale. Sadly, they were out of my price range--at that time, I wouldn't be free from my student loans for another two years. Still, I kept an eye on his eBay account while slowly buying DVDs of his films for my personal collection.

Animated Thoughts: Bakshi and Brenda So for years now I've watched Ralph Bakshi dipping into his vault of production material and offering it for sale on eBay. I vividly remembe...

I gotta say, I know some great people. My friend Oren sent me a message on Facebook about an event in Kalamazoo that slipped under my radar. At the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, they brought in a special exhibit on Ray Harryhausen.

This production was a collection of movie posters from films he worked on as well as notes, storyboards, drawings, sculptures, and models he had produced over the course of his career.

Animated Events: Ray Harryhausen in Kalamazoo I gotta say, I know some great people. My friend Oren sent me a message on Facebook about an event in Kalamazoo that slipped under my radar....

This past weekend, I flew to New Orleans for my brother-in-law's 60th birthday party--what we all were calling "John Con 2025" by the end of the weekend. Well, true to form, my sister selected our first meetup at the Café du Monde on the north side of town. Not the one by the waterfront where I had been before, no, this was the one a five minute walk from the New Orleans Museum of Art. So after getting sugared up on beignets, it was time to get moving and walk off some of that breakfast. The pre-planned walking tour of the French Quarter wouldn't be until the early afternoon, so I had time to walk across the street to the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Animated Thoughts: A surprising find in a surprising place This past weekend, I flew to New Orleans for my brother-in-law's 60th birthday party--what we all were calling "John Con 2025" by the end of...

"I have to wonder, five-hundred years from now, will people even know about all the art we created in the late 20th/early 21st Century? Or will there be this huge cultural gap where art was being produced in physical format up until the 1980's and then it largely ceased..."

Animated Thoughts: Art Comes in Many Forms, pt. 6 - the "end of year" edition I had hoped to end the old year and begin the new with some art and peaceful introspection. The Flint Institute of Arts did not disappoint. ...