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Alumni

Drawing Inspiration

April 29, 2026

A man with facial stubble smiling.

Fine Arts grad Gareth Gaudin documents his life through comics, writing a cartoon a day as part of his craft.

My name is Gareth Gaudin, I’m a cartoonist and I graduated from UVic with a Visual Arts degree in 2003. What else do you need to know about me? Let’s see… I was born and raised in Victoria, got a job at a comic book store when I was a teenager and have written and drawn comic books my entire life.

I was born on Feb. 22, 1973 and discovered my love of the comics medium with a copy of Marvel Comics’ Godzilla #17 that my mum bought for me at Turner’s Confectionary in October 1978. That was the catalyst. I started drawing cartoons immediately and have yet to stop. My first one was about a cat in a space suit named Cosmic Kitty. Twenty-five years later, I invented my most famous character, The Perogy Cat, while at UVic taking a late-night history of art course. Cats again. Why do cartoonists draw cats? I dunno, maybe it’s the “mews.”

Black and white cartoon of a cat walking down the sidewalk with the thought bubble "I think, therefore I have a thought bubble."

On July 27, 2004, I wrote “Day One” at the top of a page and committed myself to drawing one cartoon a day for the rest of my life. As of today, I’ve written, drawn and published 7,943 consecutive daily cartoons documenting my life and my interests. Meeting my wife (who also attended UVic), getting married, going on our honeymoon to Europe, having kids (our two daughters are the stars of the graphic novel series “The Monster Sisters” from Orca Books) and travelling the world meeting other cartoonists, are a few of my favourite subjects.

A black and white cartoon of a cat that reads "Point Form Comics Presents: Gareth Gaudin Cartoonist.... I'm the Perogy Cat, I was created at UVic in 2003, Barenaked Ladies wrote a song about me."

Along the way, I befriended Ed Robertson of the Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies and, somehow, he was inspired enough to write a theme song for my cartoon character. The Perogy Cat hardcover kids book that my wife Bronwyn Lee, BA ‘03, and I wrote together suddenly came with a record and a CD by the guy who wrote the Big Bang Theory theme. That seems like a big deal for a small cat.

Tomorrow I’ll be drawing Day 7,944… Follow along on Instagram: @gareth_gaudin.

—Gareth Gaudin, BFA ’03

This article appears in the UVic Torch alumni magazine.

For more Torch stories, go to the UVic Torch alumni magazine page.