Juanjo Guarnido was born in Granada, Spain, in 1967.
He spent his childhood drawing, in the town of Salobreña before moving to Granada with his family. There he studied Fine Arts and moved to Madrid to working for Lápiz Azul animation studio.
In 1993, Guarnido moved to Paris to join the Walt Disney Studios, where he moved from layout work to character animation.
Guarnido began the production of his first graphic album while still at Disney, working long-distance with his friend Juan Díaz Canales toward the publication of Blacksad: Somewhere within the Shadows (2000). Guarnido took then on other projects—like Sorcelleries with writer Teresa Valero— or directing and animating the music video Freak of the Week for the Swedish band Freak Kitchen.
Five issues of Blacksad were released between 2000 and 2013. Guarnido spent then three years and a half working on the one-issue, ambitious 145 pages fully watercolored graphic novel Les Indes Fourbes, with script by Alain Ayroles.
