Miguel Gallardo

After studying art in Barcelona, Miguel began his professional career designing comic books and contributing illustrations to magazines and newspapers. He began drawing seriously at a young age and somehow always knew that he wanted to be an illustrator.

His career started in 1975, the year of Franco's death and a time of great transition and explosive creativity in Spain. Barcelona in particular experienced a revival in art and movies during those first few years after the dictatorship. During the next two decades of great change, Miguel continued working for newspapers, magazines and various publications.

Miguel's drawings are precise, with clean lines. His style comes from a long tradition of drawing and applied arts. He has extensive experience with newspaper graphics and printing, and sees himself as a newspaperman and as a cartoonist. He is so well known in Spain that the artist and critic, Javier Mariscal, said of him: If Miguel Gallardo did not exist, we would have to invent him. He describes his drawings as ìa quiet conversation, like a dialogue while you are looking at cars from a window, or watching TVî.

American illustrators such as Robert Crumb, and Art Spiegelman from the New Yorker, were some of his early inspirations. He also admires great Spanish painters, some as famous as Picasso, others local artists like Casas, well-known in Spain for his portraits. Opisso, an illustrator from the 1930s and 1940s, who also inspires him.

Art in all its forms fascinates Miguel; he also has a background in posters, cartoons, comic books, advertising and TV ads. When asked about his passions, he says:î I love what I do!î.

Miguel's funky punchy young urban style is a product of his environment, living in a dynamic city like Barcelonaóa city of art, great architecture and a melting pot of many cultures.

He has had a lot of success with guidebooks for major Spanish citiesóguides to restaurants and cafes in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona, among others.

He also enjoys collaborating on children's books. His series features books that busy parents can read to their kids; most notable is a book called Stories to Tell in one Minute.

But the one project that is closest to his heart is developing a book of stories for the parents and siblings of children with disabilities. His own daughter, Maria, who has just turned nine years old, is autistic. Children and adults alike fear the unknown he says, and this is a project to try to explain in simple language what living with disabilities is like.