In the foreground the two characters are painted with warm colors to create a contrast in the scene, which makes them stand out in front of the black background. The artist's brushstrokes are smooth and give the composition a fluid feel to it. The fluid feeling is emphasized in the magician's beard, which seems to have a mind of its own by the way it slithers from the magician's face to Ruslan's feet. The box is constructed out of paper-mache made in Kholuy. The exterior of the piece is painted with black lacquer and the interior with red lacquer.
Gold paint is used to paint the beading that frames the scene.
The box does not have a hinge and rests on a flat bottom. Upon completing the work on this piece the artist writes the title, Kholuy, and signs her name at the bottom of the composition.