Guarnido was born in Granada, Spain. He studied painting at the art school of Granada. He collaborated on several fanzines and produced work for Marvel Comics. Unfortunately, the small size of the Spanish market forced him to turn to other means of earning a living. In 1990, he left Granada and moved to Madrid where he worked on a TV series for three years. There he met Juan Diaz Canales, with whom he discussed producing comics. In 1993, Guarnido applied for a job with the Walt Disney Studios, and he was the lead animator for the character Sabor in the Disney film Tarzan.
After Guarnido left Disney, he reconnected with Canales. After contacting several editors, Guarnido and Canales finally signed on with French publisher Darguad and in November 2000, Quelque part entre les ombres (Somewhere within the Shadows) was published.[1] It was a success among critics and the public, and won the Prix de la Découverte at the Sierre International Comics Festival and the "Avenir" Prize at the Lys-lez-Lannoy Festival, respectively in Switzerland and France. In March 2003, the second album Arctic-Nation was released. The third instalment of the Blacksad series, Âme Rouge (Red Soul), was published in 2005. He is currently publishing "Blacksad" thru Darkhorse Comics here in the US.
Juanjo Guarnido will be at the following events
Artwork Examples*
Guarnido - Blacksad - Quelque part entre les ombres
Owner: . Fred
Blacksad sketch
Owner: Jyrki Vainio
Juanjo Guarnido - BLACKSAD
Owner: Jan Timmermans
Blacksad Ex-libris
Owner: Israel Collado Sanchez
* These examples are courtesy of Comicartfans.
