Juanjo Guarnido: "The public of the comic is faithful, passionate, but very minority"

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Juanjo Guarnido

.

Granada, 1967. Since he was little, his thing was drawing.

He studied Fine Arts, spent ten years making films at the Disney studios in Paris and has spent more than two decades devoted to the acclaimed comic 'Blacksad'.

Now, the new installment of the series arrives.

The 'Blacksad' series racks up awards, what's the secret, I have no idea. Everyone is looking for that secret, like the philosopher's stone. In our case, there is honest and passionate work. Also affection for our characters and respect for the reader, to whom we give the comic that we would like to read. It is a product that, despite being intended for the general public or being

, as they say now, or commercial, as it was called pejoratively before, has a certain requirement. It can make the public reflect. How are your followers? I have been in this for more than 20 years, together with the screenwriter Juan Díaz Canales. The public in Spain is younger than in France, whose average can be 40 or 50 years. A few years ago, I had a pessimistic feeling about the market and I thought that young audiences were reading less and less comics, but lately, luckily, I have the opposite feeling. What was it like working with Disney? It was a great experience that brought me to Paris , where I continue. It was ten years, giving my best in that factory of dreams that was. Apart from giving from myself, I received a lot of learning. I felt that I was personally inheriting from the greatest artists in the field.Was that artisan or industrialist? It was a very large studio with almost 200 people near Paris. It was a very artisan artistic work environment. You did not work in 3D, but on paper and with pencils. In traditional animation, some did the painting of the background, others animate the special effects, the fire, the smoke ... it is a very specialized work, it left its mark on the film

. In any more? Yes, in many more. I started with

,

[

, in Spain],

, the

,

,

,

... Why did you leave Disney? The studio closed because Disney turned more toward computer-generated 3D animation. When I started 3D, I was fascinated, but after many years of traditional animation craft, I realized that the technique of animating in 3D is too far removed from drawing. The problems you have to solve are almost like a puppeteer, rather than a cartoonist. And what motivates me is drawing. She studied Fine Arts. Yes, I'm from the first class of the Faculty of Granada. Since I was little, I liked to draw. The most distant memories I have are all drawing. What did I draw as a child? Walt Disney characters, my toys ... Soon I started making my own comics. He even stapled them and set them a price of 1.75 pesetas. And did he sell them to his friends? They were unique copies. It did not bring me much account.Once, I sold one, with the folded blade, but it was an inexpensive model with little future. [Laughter]. Is there more comic tradition in France than in Spain? Culturally, it is more ingrained in both France and Belgium. There, comics are part of the family heritage, which is inherited from parents to children. Here you don't see that love for comics. It is not so majority. The French also complain that the comic does not get the media attention it deserves, that it is the black sheep of the industry and many intellectuals think that it is something for children, despite the wide variety of genres and styles. In Spain, the market is ten times smaller. But the Spanish public is passionate, faithful, but very minority. And the manga? It has been in fashion for a long time. His skin is very tough. It becomes fashionable, something falls and comes back very strong.There are masterpieces of manga, but large production is a consumer product and that is its nature in Japan itself. To the extent that it gives economic boost to European publishers, it then benefits other authors. What do you advise newcomers? This is very difficult. To young people, the carrot is exhibited and it seems that it is easy to live on this, but it is not like that. It is like a booby trapper for the 'glamor' of drawing and artistic activity. Young people should know that it requires an effort that the new generations may not be used to at all. They have to take it very seriously and with great caution.What do you advise newcomers? This is very difficult. To young people, the carrot is exhibited and it seems that it is easy to live on this, but it is not like that. It is like a booby trapper for the 'glamor' of drawing and artistic activity. Young people should know that it requires an effort that the new generations may not be used to at all. They have to take it very seriously and with great caution.What do you advise newcomers? This is very difficult. To young people, the carrot is exhibited and it seems that it is easy to live on this, but it is not like that. It is like a booby trapper for the 'glamor' of drawing and artistic activity. Young people should know that it requires an effort that the new generations may not be used to at all. They have to take it very seriously and with great caution.

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