Donald Drake Fine Art

Maine Realism Art: Portraits, Landscapes and Still Life

Portrait Paintings

I love painting portraits. I have embraced the challenge of "getting a likeness" since I was young. I was fortunate to receive classical training in painting figures. I have taken that training and developed it into capturing the essence of a person's life.

Landscapes

Welcome to my landscape gallery. The images here are painted in either oils or pastels. Some of them have been created "plein aire" (painted on the spot).

Figure Paintings

I love painting people in their different environments. I have been classically trained as a figure painter and it is a great joy to observe and record humans and their interactions with one another.

Still Life

I love still painting. I have admired painters like Chardin, Manet, Monet, and Renoir as well as many others. I enjoy the challenge of composition, color, light, and form in my own paintings. I approach still life the way I approach painting portraits. I see each of the objects as having a personality.

Caricatures

I have always loved the art of caricature. David Levine has been the master of political and cultural caricatures throughout the 20th century. My goal is to exaggerate the likeness and make a powerful painting. Throughout the years I have done caricatures for newspapers, but also for corporate clients as well as private clients. Caricatures make a wonderful and unique gift to honor those who are retiring. I recently completed these caricatures of President Trump and President Biden. They are available as high-quality prints in several sizes. I accept caricature commissions of business leaders, family members, and academic leaders.

Courtroom Artwork

I was a prolific courtroom artist in the late eighties and early nineties. Cameras were allowed into state courtrooms in the 90s. Federal courts continue to prohibit cameras. I covered trials from Portland, Maine to Springfield, Mass. for Portland stations as well as NBC in Boston. My work was shown on NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. These are a few of my paintings. I also covered Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mack's lawsuit against the BBC.