(Isumi) Japan’s Harumichi Shibasaki was nearly 70 when he started filming art tutorials for his YouTube channel, now followed worldwide by more than 1.4 million lovers of his posed style and warm.
Posted at 9:59
Updated at 11:19 a.m.
His channel “Watercolor by Shibasaki” mainly offers drawing and painting lessons, which sometimes sees his grandchildren and his two cats invite themselves on the videos.
“Hello, this is Shibasaki. How are you all doing? asks the 74-year-old artist with a white mane and mustache, smiling at the camera.
Mr. Shibasaki shoots all of his videos himself from his home in the Japanese countryside, using a smart phone, SLR camera and lighting device.
“When I was little, we didn’t even have a TV at home,” he told AFP. “I never imagined that an era like this could exist.”
For him, being so connected to people around the world is “like a dream”.
His channel saw a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic after Shibasaki called on netizens in a video to draw with him as people were told to stay home.
“Sleep in peace”
PHOTO BY KAZUHIRO NOGI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
It was on the encouragement of his son that Harumichi Shibasaki launched his YouTube channel where he uses his talent as a teacher, but which is also a space for exchange with his subscribers who do not hesitate to confide in the comments.
The video received many comments from fans around the world saying they were “relaxed and peaceful”, or complimenting Mr. Shibasaki for his “so pleasant way of speaking” that one can “sleep peacefully”.
Passionate about drawing since his childhood, this only son of a couple of farmers from Chiba, near Tokyo, left at the age of 18 to study fine arts in the capital, before teaching them in turn.
It was on the encouragement of his son that he launched his YouTube channel where he uses his talent as a teacher, but which is also a space for exchange with his subscribers who do not hesitate to confide in the comments.
“They certainly think they can tell me anything,” says Shibasaki, who himself discusses his health issues in his videos.
After undergoing six heart surgeries, he says he has “a very concrete picture of death” and “really understands” people’s problems.
He himself hopes to continue painting as long as possible, but, with age, “the sight drops and the hands tremble”, he worries.
“I think I can draw properly for another five years,” he says. “So if I can produce paintings that will stay with me, that’s what I want to do.”