Hi guys, my name is Sugar Bee! I am a digital artist from Japan who loves drawing cute girls, pretty clothes, bright eyes, beautiful nature, and a lot of flowers.

You’ll understand what I love by looking at the works I’ve made so far, rather than reading my messy writings.

All of my NFTs are original and hand-drawn from scratch.

They are all cute and pretty in their own ways. I draw each girl/work with my love, hopes, and dreams to be welcomed by someone who likes my work. They are meant to be your best girl/waifu.

These are the NFT collections I’ve made so far, and my Sugar Bee Verse will expand more and more in the future!

Check out this website or my Twitter to know more about my collection!

Anyways… I’d like to talk about myself as an artist rather than my project in this entry. I’d like to write why I decided to dive into the NFT world, without knowing anyone I knew, and literally starting my brand as Sugar Bee from absolute 0.

This is who I am, where I am from, where I have been going through

My sister and I loved drawing together when we were kids. Every time we got a big sheet of white paper, we grabbed the pens and drew pretty girls and cute animals. We created the story together using those characters.

I was a typical kid who hated math and P.E., loved music and art. I doodled anytime I found the blank space in my notebook. Since then, drawing is the most natural way to communicate with others. I’m not good at speaking either in Japanese or English. I draw or write to express my feelings and tell stories.

One day, I found that there was an artist from Japan who was working at Pixar, a world-famous animation studio. Then I decided to study abroad in America to challenge myself. I loved my family but at the same time, I wanted to get out my hometown and see the world outside.

In 2017, I came to the United States to study art and all the other things at a small private college. I learned so many things during these years. I learned art, music, and theatre arts. I met so many great people. I went to Florence to study art for a semester. Of course, I had a hard time also, but I enjoyed my college life.

Then covid-19 hit. This worldwide pandemic changed my future plan completely.

I went back to my home for summer break but I couldn't go back to the U.S. because of the chaos happening in the world. I decided to stay in Japan for a semester to wait.

In 2020, I drew a lot of illustrations to grow my Instagram. The world was in panic and sadness, but I improved my art on my own and met a lot of wonderful artists around the world. While I was building my brand and community online, I gradually started to think… “isn’t it more fun to make a living like this, than trying hard to get a job somewhere?“

Then I realized, I am an artist who wants freedom and draws what I want.

I know if I could get a job and work for a company, I could get a stable income. But I could not shake off the idea to live as a freelance artist.

I wanted to work in the animation industry. But when the graduation of my college life got close, the answer I arrived at was ―― “become a freelance artist“.

My first impression about NFT

To be honest, I had never imagined that I would be an NFT artist when I first heard about this new technology.

I heard about NFT through some of the digital artists on Twitter criticizing it. They are talking about how NFTs are bad for the environment, there are so many art thefts stealing other artists’ artworks, scammers, most of the small artists can’t even make money, and so on. Some of them are really aggressive towards NFT artists and they said they would block NFT artists if they found them on timeline.

And I was like... “huh. okay. I don’t know much about it so I don’t care whether my favorite artists are making NFTs or not.“

I didn’t either support or oppose NFT. I didn’t know what it was about.

Then my favorite YouTubers are talking and starting to make NFTs. Naoki Saito is one of the biggest influences of my digital art journey in general.

He talked about NFTs and how they would change the digital art world and how they might help to glow as a digital artist in the future with this new technology. I was hooked by his video and started to research NFT.

I read several web articles and blogs, then I found that it’s not so difficult to start selling NFTs. There was no obstacle to stop me! I jumped in!

Why did I decide to become an NFT artist?

I believed that to become a professional artist and make a living, I had to have clients and/or work for a company. The client or company tell the artists what they want for their projects, such as advertising, game, movie, comics, animation, books, etc, then artists make artworks to fulfill their clients’ order.

I thought that was the only feasible way to live as an artist, at least for me. without any social media fame or wonderful job records.

But NFT doesn’t work like that.

One thing I was surprised by the most is that NFT artists can basically draw/create what they want. And somebody might find the worth in our creation.

There’s no client so nobody tells you what to make. There is absolute freedom for artists.

I draw what I want. I make what I want to make. Sugar Bee Girls are full of my favorite things, such as bright colors, big twinkly eyes, pretty costumes, and smiles… They are representing my love.

And some people like my girls and want to buy my NFTs. This is just amazing.

Shoujo style - lovely girls with twinkle eyes

My biggest influence is “Shoujo-manga/comic“, such as Shugo-Chara, Onegai My Melody, and Tanemura Arina’s works.

Some people say “Shoujo style is weird because their eyes are too big“, but I believe their big eyes are the most attractive parts.

Their eyes are wide open and full of hopes and dreams. They sometimes become reckless but brave and stand for their loved ones. I love the strength and weaknesses of each character and the positive messages the story tells.

If you happened to see my works, please check out each girl’s eyes.

Why did I create a brand new account, rather than using my original art account?

I have my social media account as a digital artist besides Sugar Bee’s. I’m not planning to share my original art account on my Sugar Bee’s or introduce my NFTs on my other accounts.

I have a certain level of followers and fans there, but I wanted to start my NFT journey from zero. It is because some people have negative feelings towards this new technology, but also I wanted to challenge myself and my art skill. How many people would like to buy my works without any fame at all?

I met one of the Japanese comic artists who is also making NFTs but hiding their identity as a comic artist. There are several artists on Twitter who have started their accounts with 0 followers and told their own stories from scratch.

I know it is risky and I am making a detour, but I want to tell my Sugar Bee Verse without being affected by other works I’ve made.

My dreams, my goals

I have so many dreams to come true as an NFT artist. You can see my road maps on my website, but not only that, I want my Sugar Bee Girls to be loved by a lot of people.

I would like to expand my Sugar Bee Girls Universe. I want to draw more about my lovely girls.

The thing I can say for sure is that I will never stop drawing no matter what.

I love digital art. I love drawing my characters. I will never ever quit my art journey until I die. So don’t worry, I won’t leave here.

My brain is full of ideas but right now I don’t have enough time and hands to let all of my creations out, so just stick around and you’ll see something amazing.

I hope you’ll like my work, my lovely Sugar Bee Girls!!

-SugarBee

03.16.2022