Words and pictures

Rodney Greenblat, the artist behind PaRappa the Rapper, answers questions put to him by the members of the eu.playstation.com forums.

Continuing the celebration of ten years of PaRappa the Rapper on PlayStation, members of the forum community were asked to devise questions for Rodney Greenblat, the talented New York artist responsible for the game's iconic style. Here are Rodney's answers.

Lob4star: What role did you have in the development of the character of PaRappa?

My role for all the PaRappa games was as the character designer. Usually Masaya Matssura, the game's creator, and Gabin Ito, the writer, had an idea for the personality of a character and would ask me to make some sketches, freely based on their suggestions. In the case of PaRappa they wanted a character that was trustworthy, loyal, hardworking, romantic and a little insecure. That made me think of a dog. I made several sketches of dog rapper characters. We all worked together to pick the best design.

MagicYiux: Were PaRappa's world and environment inspired by something in particular?

Not really something in particular, but more like a crazy combination of many things. Matssura wanted some kind of American look to the landscape and that was easy for me because I am American, and grew up in goofy suburbia. There are also some odd Japanese things in the game, the Chop Chop Master Onion's Dojo, which was really fun for me to design. Added to that is the fact that the characters are animals, birds and plants and people mixed together. It turned into a very surreal mix that was very surprising.

SAS: Where do you find the inspiration to create those great characters and how do you make them inspire so much fun, always making us smile?

I love making people smile and laugh. I am not a comedian and can not tell a joke at all, but I realised I can make drawings that can be funny. I really believe good humour can make the world a better place. It is always my intention to make something positive and humorous.

XXIV: How do you realise your ideas, by painting, drawing or computer?

I always start with my sketchbook. It is my free thinking space, and I draw in my sketchbook almost every day. Sometime the drawings are for special projects like PaRappa, but other time I just daydream with my pencil, and let it flow. My sketchbooks have become a visual diary for me, and I don't usually show them to anyone, so it is OK if there are boring ideas. When the time comes for the sketches to go out into the world, I have to decide if the computer or analogue material is the best. For designing characters that other people will animate and design with, the computer is the best.

ArnoFCB: On average how long does it take you to draw a character from start to finish?

Character design is a collaborative business, so it is very hard to answer that question. It is fast for me to make sketches, but it takes more time for the whole team to decide. Sometimes characters are accepted quickly, and other times it takes many tries and revisions to get it right. It probably only took two weeks to get PaRappa right, but it took nearly six months to provide the right character for Lammy.

JoãoPT: When did your passion for drawing start? Was it born with you, was it already noticeable by kindergarten or was it more recently?

I started work as a serious artist when I was three. My parents gave me paints and paper, set me up in the kitchen, in case I dripped, and even outfitted me with a smock and beret. In 3rd grade my cubist portrait of Santa Claus was judged best in the class, and when I was in 5th grade I was asked to design the cover of the PTA guidebook. I did it in a spacy 1970s style because actually it was the 1970s.

psp master nl: Who has influenced your work the most?

Oh my! Artists get their influences from so many people, and it is forever changing how those influences affect your artwork. To name a few: When I was about 13 my father took me on a trip to NYC and we went to the Guggenheim museum and there was a show of Kandinsky - the Russian modernist painter and teacher. His work baffled and surprised me, and made me want to pursue his direction. When I was in art school I was inspired by my fellow student Keith Haring for his lack of fear and productive energy that created a whole new kind of art career that I felt I could follow. I have to include my first art dealer, Gracie Mansion, who took big chances showing my work, as I was just a kid out of art school and I better include my wife Deena Lebow, who gives me honest criticism and encouragement every day.

Marink: How did your connection with the gaming industry come about?

I had been working with a Japanese artist's rep agency, and I had had a few successful illustration projects. From there I was asked to design cute characters for stationary and gift products by a division of Sony in Japan called Sony Creative Products. The amazing designers and managers at Sony Creative introduced me to Masaya Matssura and his partner who were pop stars inside Sony Music Japan, and they were working on experimental music software for the then unreleased PS one. They knew my work from my past children's books and my CD-ROM projects, so they were really glad I was spending time in Tokyo, and they asked me to join the project that latter became PaRappa The Rapper.

AlienHunter: Aside from PaRappa, which videogame do you think is the most innovative or artistic?

I loved Super Mario for the Super Nintendo. I never really got tired of that. In the mid 1990's I was inspired by a weird early Macintosh game called The Manhole, those guys went on to make MYST which was really amazing. I also knew the guys who made Starship Warlock and that really opened up possibilities for me. Lately my favourite is LocoRoco for PSP.

Ao Neko Amaru: If you were to create a PaRappa colouring book for children and could only package three colour pencils with it, which three colours would you choose?

I guess I would put blue, orange, and green.

If you're interested in discovering more, please visit whimsyload.com to view his art and find out more about Rodney Greenblat.

A big thank you to our forum members for providing the questions, each one of you will be receiving a PaRappa plushie based on Rodney Greenblat's design.