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 laid-back, warm style.
His Watercolor by Shibasaki
channel
mainly offers drawing and painting lessons, which sometimes sees his grandchildren and two cats guesting on the videos.
“Hello, this is Shibasaki. How are you everyone?”
asks the 74-year-old artist with a white mane and mustache, smiling at the camera.
Harumichi Shibasaki makes all of his videos himself from his home in the Japanese countryside, with a smartphone, an SLR camera and a 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”
.
"Sleep in peace"
His channel saw a surge in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, after Harumichi Shibasaki called on Internet users in a video to draw with him, when people were asked to stay at home.
The video received many comments from fans around the world calling themselves
"relaxed and peaceful",
or complimenting Harumichi Shibasaki for his
"so pleasant way of speaking"
that one can
"sleep in peace"
.
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 Harumichi 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 issues.
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 correctly for another five years,”
he says.
"So if I can produce paintings that will stick around after me, that's what I want to do
. "
