BALKA
2026
This is a story about an ugly princess Balka going on an adventure out of her comfort zone. She believed all of her misfortunes happened because of her appearance, and becomes the most beautiful girl in the world as a reward of her first adventure. But still, she feels empty. She steps on the second adventure.
I am happy to share some of the behind scenes and the process of Balka. Please enjoy.
It all started with an idea of a princess,
hiding in her room all day.
The Very First Sketch
This is the very first image I created with photoshop for the concept of BALKA.
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At the time, I had only a brief idea of a story, and I knew the best scene to begin it was the prince’s visit.
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The characters were not cartoonish yet, and the tone of the story was very dark and moody—you can tell by the silhouettes behind the windows.
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The style was evolved but the elements such as the gossiping maids, gloomy sky, and the sword motif on the Prince’s flag remained.
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I travelled Warsaw and Kraków in 2019, and their castles and surrounding environments influenced the design.
Watercolor Attempt
This image is the refined version of the one above, done by watercolor and colorpencil.
Finding the right style of BALKA came with the character.
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As the character development became wittier and more playful, the environmental designs - the crooked buildings, short furnitures, pointy trees - naturally followed.
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Even though I loved the feeling of the traditional medium, I found it hard to edit.
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So I decided to keep the sketch traditional, with pen and pencil, but paint with photoshop.
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It took a lot of trial and error to find the style, but it was worthy.
Why Designed Balka?
In traditional fairy tales, female leads are usually beautiful—or, if not, they possess exceptional kindness. I created Balka because I wanted to see a “not-so-nice,” quirky, unconventional heroine going through ordeals with a brave heart.
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She knows how to say no, even if it means being seen as “rude.” She takes small acts of revenge on those who mistreat her. She is not a good girl, but a brave girl.
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Designing Balka’s appearance was tricky. She had to be “so ugly that people believed she was cursed,” and she had lived in isolation for a long time. My first few sketches were quite primitive and rough.
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Above all, the definition of “ugly” is vague and subjective, and I knew it required a careful approach.
So I decided to give Balka an unrealistically large nose, exaggerated proportions, scruffy hair, and warm, curious eyes that reveal her true nature.
The Magical Moment
When I sketched this sitting Balka character, I finally felt that I met her!
It was such a magical moment, the drawing grew up very quickly by itself.
I sketched with pencil, refined the line with pen, scanned and digital painted with photoshop.​
As Balka's design was set, the witch, the Prince and the rest was easy.
What Is Beauty?
To design the "pretty" version of Balka, I researched various standards of beauty across different countries and historical periods. Due to the nature of children’s book, only a selective portion of that research was reflected into the final work. However, the research itself was quite interesting to me. If you’re intrigued too, I’d like to share a little bit of them here.
In Renaissance Europe,
plucking out the eyelashes and eyebrows was considered to be elegant.
In 10th to 19th Century Japan,
women dyed their teeth to black to show their beauty and maturity.
In Qing Dynasty China,
women and men grew their nails upto 25cm to indicate their wealth.
In 17th Century England,
People painted blue lines on their bodies to look pale.
But in 20th Century England,
People believed tanned skin was more attractive- completely opposite to centuries ago.
In Qazar Dynasty Iran,
Eyebrows joint together on the nose like a bridge was beauty standard.
The definition of beauty is very vernerable and highly depending on the belief of society, which is funny considering so many people -including myself- have been suffering for it.
Yearning for the Sky
The sky holds deep meanings to me. It represents freedom, awe, boundless possibility, challenge, and a sense of fear toward Mother Nature. I put effort to capture the sumptuous colors of the sky throughout BALKA. Just like her changing appearance and inner world, the sky also shifts its shade.
Cartoonish Touch
The cartoon-inspired elements are embedded throughout the book, such as continuous movement in one scene, or different lighting in same setting.
The layout of BALKA was more like cartoon in the beginning.
There was more detailed story about how she lived inside the room and how she was confined there.
But as it was unnecssary for overall narrative, I decided to remove it.
Texture
I created 3 different textures using watercolor paint and embossed paper to evoke the look of aged medieval parchment.
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They were used all over the book, and greatly helped on setting the tone.
WORK PROCESS
The whole book was made by same process.
Sketched with pencil, lined with pen, scanned and colored digitally with photoshop.
BALKA IS STILL ON SUBMISSION PHASE.
Currently (2026 Feb 4) BALKA is still unpublished, I am proactively working on submissions.
Should you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact me through this page, or email to
Thank you very much for your interest to BALKA, and I wish you a great day!
