No doubt if you have driven around Denver, at some point you have come face to face with a larger than life Bulldog on a wall. His name is Bouguereau and he was once the pet and forever the muse of Patrick Kane McGregor, owner of Esoteric Art, a family affair that includes Patrick’s son Tristen and wife Shawna as well as an army of dogs that currently include Kita, Maverick and the new crew member Leo.
Born in Denver, Patrick’s painting style started with roots in graffiti and lettering while working for a few sign shops in his twenties. In the next phase of his studies he gained application, color theory, and anatomy skills painting for a few hand painted billboard companies over the last three decades. With the newfound knowledge of brushes and oil paints, he explored portraiture more and found a love for it. Most of his work now is based on realism, sometimes using impressionism and abstract ideas for scale or effect while exploring the use of color. Patrick enjoys painting animals, especially dogs, as they are a big part of his life. He has a deep appreciation and pride for canines in his paintings, and likes to represent them majestically as they live in the moment. You can catch Patrick and his son painting walls all over Denver and beyond this summer, and they sometimes have a posse’ of dogs with them.
Learn more and follow Patrick:
Website | Instagram
Patrick Kane McGregor on Art, Books, and Libraries
- What book as a kid, influenced your imagination to pick up a crayon and begin making art?
I really like Corduroy, the story of the bear trying to find its button but I think the artistic flame was lit more by the Tarzan series books by Edgar Rice Burroughs that had the Frank Frazetta artwork in it.
- What book are you currently reading that influences you in either a creative way or a professional way?
I am currently reading You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero. She is a life-coach as well as an ex-rockstar so she has some good ideas on change and structure to make things flow better in your life to make it more like a well written song and not a hot mess.
- What do you think is the most important resource that Libraries provide to you as an artist?
With my passion for animals and the human form the Library is a great source of reference for me. Esoteric Art specializes in realism when doing commercial work so it helps to have a free source to go to for any subject we might encounter in a project. From a sports star to an animal to a style of work, the Library has us covered for image sources.
- What is your current/favorite/most-used branch of the Denver Public Library?
I like the Ross-Broadway Branch, it is centrally located with a nice staff and a large parking lot which is nice for people with big work trucks who are trying to grab a few art books on the way home from a job.
- If you were offered a gigantic wall on the outside of a Library, what would your paint to display what a library means to you?
I would do a giant mural of my old bulldog Bouguereau, leaning against a bookcase full of my favorite books…. or Clifford the Big Red Dog, but that would take a giant wall.
Ex Libris: Denver Artists is a series featuring local street artists, focusing on their connection to books and the importance of libraries to the artistic community. Series concept and interview by Sean Ryerson.
