Ritual Issue 4.5

San Jose artist Patron

Written by Flora Moreno de Thompson | Photography by Daniel Garcia

Wake up after three hours of sleep. Head to Original Joe’s as soon as they open and order a Bloody Mary. Talk to the staff, who know you by name because you’re there so frequently. Get motivated for the rest of the day after sharing stories with the girl behind the counter. Finish your drink. Get to work and keep at it all day. Later in the evening, when you get tired, come back to OJ’s and order another drink. Repeat.

This type of schedule doesn’t work for everyone, but the routine suits local artist Patron (real name: Bertand Paule) just fine. Patron does work for video game companies and other freelance projects to pay the bills, but his greatest joy is drawing caricatures of people he meets everyday.

In fact, if you have been to a downtown bar or coffee shop lately, you very well may have been one of his subjects. “I work better in a public setting,” says Patron. His art is gritty and cartoonish, much like how he perceives the world around him. Patron prefers using pencils for his first sketches. Some of his work is done on sticky notes, while other pieces are scanned and cleaned up on a computer.

I work better in a public setting.

Patron grew up being influenced by cartoons and comic books. He compares his art of storytelling with that of Chuck Palahniuk, author of “Fight Club.” “When you read his stories, you think he’s doing it for shock value, but he’s not. That’s how it is with my caricatures.”

Lately, he seeks inspiration from the world around him. “Whatever makes you happy and whatever emotion I get that’s strong, that’s what I imitate,” Patron says. He’s especially grateful for the staff at the bars and restaurants he frequents that let him turn their bars and tables into his office. “You can’t forget those people,” Patron says. “I’m grateful for everything they give me.”

Patron takes his work seriously, but he doesn’t take himself seriously. He studied at San Jose State for a while, but soon dropped out. “I dreaded the industry,” Patron says. “I worked a little bit and I did not like it.” The best moments of his life have happened during his freelancing stints. Patron would take CalTrain to San Francisco or Santa Cruz and draw out in the open at parks or in bars, interacting with different people. “People would ask me ‘What did you do today?’ And they’d say, ‘Didn’t you work?’ Doing that was my work.”

When Patron isn’t working for hire, he’s busy working on a book about his drawing techniques that he hopes to publish in the near future. “That’s my whole purpose,” Patron says. “I work on it day and night.”

Follow Patron on IG: @patronsketchez