I'm sure almost everyone reading this knows the name Bob Ross. He was relatively famous when I was a kid. That fame faded after his death, but then just a few years ago YouTube discovered him and his fame exploded all over the world.

He was a painter with a soothing personality. He filmed his show in my hometown, Muncie Indiana, so I always felt some connection with him when I was a kid. I know that's silly, but that's how kids are. Also, my great-grandma painted as a hobby and she used the same wet-on-wet technique that Bob Ross later made famous. When I was growing up, my grandparent's house was covered with her paintings, and they all looked more or less exactly the same as Ross's paintings. In the years since I've been told that this wet-on-wet technique is usually used on landscapes and that there are a very limited number of things you can do with it, so many paintings using it all end up looking similar regardless of who paints them, which explains why my great grandma's paintings and Ross's look so similar.

Anyway, lately my oldest son has discovered Bob Ross. He often watches YouTube for drawing tutorials. He loves drawing and is always trying to improve. I suppose it was only a matter of time before the YouTube algorithm led him to Bob Ross. The interesting or funny thing was when he came to me to tell me about his new discovery, he said "Papa, I've found the American Shibasaki!"

Shibasaki

Old Hive users may recognize the name. Shibasaki (Hive account@shibasaki) used to be among our ranks back on Steemit where he posted his watercolor paintings. His posts always did well, some going over $100 when some whales would upvote him. Sadly he didn't make the move to Hive with us. Like many of us he went through his Steemit posts and blanked them, erasing all the contents, after the Justin Sun mess. Sadly, he blanked out his posts before the fork actually happened, so all the posts were blanked out on Hive as well, so unfortunately you can't go read them, and he never started posting on Hive. But anyway, Steemit is where I met him and chatted with him. I always enjoyed my interactions with him.

Sometime after that point, he went viral on YouTube and attracted national fame in Japan. Now he is a pretty big name in this country and has put on workshops and events. Not as big as Bob Ross, but still bigger than he was in his Steemit days. My son subscribes to his YouTube channel and loves watching his videos, calling him "Grandpa Shibasaki". With that information, maybe you can see why my son described Bob Ross as "The American Shibasaki".

Shibasaki may be the better painter of the two artists. Whereas Bob Ross only knew a few tricks and used them on every single painting, Shibasaki rotates between watercolor, acrylic paint, oil paint, crayons, and pencils, although watercolor is his favorite so he sticks with that most of the time. He seems to be a master of nearly every art medium, which is impressive, even using the wet-on-wet technique for oil painting that Bob made famous for a video or two. He also has the same gentle, happy voice that Bob Ross had.

If you enjoy art, I'd fully recommend his channel

Anyway, two somewhat similar painters from different sides of the Pacific who my son watches and enjoys.

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.