Drake Deknatel was born in New York in 1943, grew up in Chicago, and lived for more than two decades in Seattle.

After his education at the Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs, he went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, in 1963. From 1965 to 1968 he studied at the University of Arizona, Department of Art (in Charles Litter, and others) in Tucson, Arizona, and 1968/69 at Hazel Larsen Archer, Tucson Art Center, Tucson.

He was a representative of American abstract realism, but he was not a stylist of painting. In his last years, he found a new figurative expression, in which he discussed the experiences of his childhood and adolescence.

He had his first exhibition in Germany in the Galerie Querformat in Berlin-Schöneberg in 1994 and since then the city has not let go. Since 1996 he had a second studio in Berlin and the city became his second home. He was a passionate painter and indefatigable "art worker," but also wrote texts for art catalogs and art criticism for various American magazines.

His second passion was music, especially blues. In his time in Chicago he met famous representatives of the so-called white blues of the 60 years, B. Al Cooper, with whom he also played together.

He had numerous exhibitions in the US and Europe. His works depend on museums and large private and public collections, among others. the Museum of New Mexico and the Oregon State Capital Collection. One of his large-scale works can be seen in the memorial of the Dachau concentration camp.

He had his last exhibition in Europe in 2003 at the Galerie Michael Schultz in Berlin.

He died in November 2005 in Portland, Oregon, USA.