The Princess and the Pea

The Princess and the Pea is a short 3D animation created as part of our last project at our university. It retells the classic fairy tale through a more eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

Software used

Clip Studio Paint
Procreate
Adobe After Effects

University project, 2026

My responsibilities

Concept
Character Design
Background Design

Since the focus was to create a subtle eerie environment, the princess needed to feel like a natural part of it. I drew inspiration from BJD dolls, since their long and delicate bodies and limbs reinforce the overall tone of the world. The princess's color palette is kept slightly desaturated, with subtle skin tones and blush chosen to give her a sickly, almost fragile appearance. The hairstyle was kept simple, to make it easier to model and animate. Only the pony was slightly changed during the modelling process.

Character Concept

Backgrounds

short frame-by-frame animation for ending (00:59-01:10)

The backgrounds follow the same aesthetic, dark and slightly eerie. They were all originally painted digitally in grayscale and then brought to life through the use of a gradient map. For the beginning of the animation, the castle is separated in multiple layers to achieve a subtle parallax effect.