Illustrations for Molly Drake Album – Part 1

Yes!  I am so happy to report that the Molly Drake album is finally available!

The Molly Drake album with an old photo made beautiful by my friend Sarah Wilmer.

As many of you may know Molly Drake (1915-1993) was the mother of the late great songwriter Nick Drake (1948-1974). This past year Squirrel Thing Recordings remastered a collection of her beautiful songs and I had the great honor of making two illustrations for the inside album jacket.

Here are my two illustrations for the Molly Drake album– a weaver bird in its nest and a teacup paired with a pretty poem written by Molly quite late in her life.

Drawing the teacup illustration for the inside of the Molly Drake album. Sumi ink!

Honestly, I’m not sure if I’ve ever worked on a project that was more near and dear to my heart as this one– Nick Drake’s music had a profound affect on me in my youth. If you don’t already know his songs do yourself a favor and find a copy of the album Pink Moon (1972). Here’s one of my favorite tracks from that album called From the Morning.

This newly released album of his mother’s music connects the dots and clearly shows where Nick Drake learned how to turn poetry into songs. As Nick’s producer Joe Boyd wrote Molly Drake is “the missing link in the Nick Drake story – there, in the piano chords, are the roots of Nick’s harmonies”.

Thank you to David Herman and Dan Dzula of Squirrel Thing Recordings in Brooklyn, NY for remastering this fantastic music! You can listen to and purchase Molly’s songs here. Please support this endeavor and buy the actual disc!

Feel free to comment– I like the dialog.  <<<>>>  Thanks for reading!  <<<>>>

Detail of the weaver bird illustration for the Molly Drake album at my drawing table.

The album booklet is complete with a biography written by Molly’s daughter– the actress Gabrielle Drake. Whose mysterious pair of paws are entering this scene?