Dan Sherratt's "Akira" Art Print

If you haven't read my "Best Twenty Posters of 2011" feature, then I apologize, but I plan to spoil the print that took the top spot in the next few sentences. Ready? It was Tyler Stout's Akira poster for Mondo. Now, I didn't give Stout's print the number one position solely because I love the film, I honestly thought it was the best poster released last year (at least of those works inspired by the moving pictures). But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Akira probably resides somewhere in my top ten films of all time list and is definitely my favorite animated movie of all time. Akira stands as a towering achievement in not only groundbreaking animation, but also world building and storytelling. So yes, I'm a sucker for pretty much anything Akira related, because visually speaking, I happen to think the movie offers artists so much to work with that, at the very least, it's bound to be interesting, if not beautiful. I'm happy to report Dan Sherratt's latest print, inspired by the film and artwork of Akira, is both interesting and beautiful!

"Akira" Art Print
Dan Sherratt
16" x 24" (Screen Print) - Signed and Numbered
£30 - Limited to 80
Inspired By: Akira

As a fan of Mr. Sherratt and just about anything Akira I'll definitely be going after this poster tomorrow morning. Dan has done a great job recreating the original comic cover artwork, which wonderfully mixes the organic and the technological as every sinewy exhaust pipe and oozing motor block seem to come together and surround one another like a group of writhing snakes. And what is it about Japanese calligraphy that makes it so damn classy and gorgeous? I'm not sure, but that Akira title is straight up iconic. Sorry English language, you're just not doing it for me. Still on the fence about this one? Well, I've included a shot of what the print will look like in-person below and, as you can see, the metallic ink really gives the poster an appropriately gleaming surface and brings Kaneda's creepy Neo Tokyo / motorcycle throne to life. As a brief aside, I did want to quickly mention the controversy this print has created among a few in the poster collecting community. You can read the entire discussion at Expresso Beans. The thread poses some thought-provoking questions and is certainly an interesting and polarizing conversation. Whatever your take on adaptation versus appropriation and the nebulous boundary separating the two, I'm sure you'll agree that this is great looking screen print.

Photo of Dan Sherratt's "Akira" Art Print

I had the chance to ask Dan about the genesis of his print and his experimentation with inks a few days ago, and he was generous enough to reply. Here's what the man had to say:

"This is my first print with metallic inks, as with the GID for Daft Punk, I never intended to have a special ink until someone suggested it and from that point on I couldn't get it out of my head. My previous Akira concept was a schematic for Kaneda's bike that I thought would be cool after seeing Kevin Tong's R2D2 blueprint poster. The idea this time around was to recreate some of the original concept art I'd seen for Akira, as the print was intended to be taken to London Comic Con and I wanted to be faithful to both the manga books as well as the film. Due to some printing/shipping delays I've missed Comic Con but I'm happy just to see it look so good in person (anyone collecting prints knows this, especially with the metallics)."

Dan's "Akira" art print will be going on sale tomorrow (6/1) through his Drawn Chorus storefront at 6 PM GMT (10 AM PDT for us West Coasters). The poster measures 16" x 24", is limited to an edition of 80, and will cost £30 plus shipping. If you would like to learn more about the artist, be sure to follow him on Twitter @drawn_chorus.