shel kahn
@portablecity.bsky.social
they/them • art director • visdev • illustration • comics • ttrpg
🏞️ • 🐦 • 🎨 • 🎸 • 🎶 • 🏳️🌈 • 💪
http://portfolio.portablecity.net • www.portablecity.net • stories.portablecity.net • sorcererscatalogue.itch.io
[email protected]
🏞️ • 🐦 • 🎨 • 🎸 • 🎶 • 🏳️🌈 • 💪
http://portfolio.portablecity.net • www.portablecity.net • stories.portablecity.net • sorcererscatalogue.itch.io
[email protected]
Find my playmaps, comics, and more, at the Danforth Arts Market! 1856 Danforth Ave, in Toronto.
November 26, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Find my playmaps, comics, and more, at the Danforth Arts Market! 1856 Danforth Ave, in Toronto.
Alright, okay, little preview announcement: I am setting up shop in the Danforth Arts Market this winter!
I can't believe how excited I am to have a local storefront location! Still lots more art and books to come, but if you've been looking to grab a playmap, Toronto friends, you are IN LUCK!
I can't believe how excited I am to have a local storefront location! Still lots more art and books to come, but if you've been looking to grab a playmap, Toronto friends, you are IN LUCK!
November 26, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Alright, okay, little preview announcement: I am setting up shop in the Danforth Arts Market this winter!
I can't believe how excited I am to have a local storefront location! Still lots more art and books to come, but if you've been looking to grab a playmap, Toronto friends, you are IN LUCK!
I can't believe how excited I am to have a local storefront location! Still lots more art and books to come, but if you've been looking to grab a playmap, Toronto friends, you are IN LUCK!
things are happening, Toronto....!
November 25, 2025 at 2:31 PM
things are happening, Toronto....!
One more oil pastel painting for good measure: I always have to do a crystal island in a new medium, and this one, painted on a wood panel for maximum softness and painterliness, is one of my favourite islands from this year! Oil pastels have been so rewarding, and I hope you enjoyed this art tour!
November 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
One more oil pastel painting for good measure: I always have to do a crystal island in a new medium, and this one, painted on a wood panel for maximum softness and painterliness, is one of my favourite islands from this year! Oil pastels have been so rewarding, and I hope you enjoyed this art tour!
Oil pastels are also a fantastic medium for plein air work - all the powerful opaque colour of gouache, the blendability of oils, and the throw-in-a-box-in-your-bag ease of pencils or markers. I use them in my royal talens art creation sketchbooks and they hold up better than I could hope!
November 23, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Oil pastels are also a fantastic medium for plein air work - all the powerful opaque colour of gouache, the blendability of oils, and the throw-in-a-box-in-your-bag ease of pencils or markers. I use them in my royal talens art creation sketchbooks and they hold up better than I could hope!
Still life studies are always a good way to practice a new medium, and oil pastels are no exception. Finding the balance between blending everything into soft oblivion versus letting each mark be a brushstroke that stands on its own is hard! And fun. And worth practicing.
November 22, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Still life studies are always a good way to practice a new medium, and oil pastels are no exception. Finding the balance between blending everything into soft oblivion versus letting each mark be a brushstroke that stands on its own is hard! And fun. And worth practicing.
Hey Toronto, things are coming along....
November 21, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Hey Toronto, things are coming along....
After I had a handle on the medium, I painted some gifts for family, pet portraits, and this is for sure my favourite of the batch. Oil pastels are so wonderful as a way to be soft but painterly, abstract but rendered, colourful but realistic....
November 21, 2025 at 1:40 PM
After I had a handle on the medium, I painted some gifts for family, pet portraits, and this is for sure my favourite of the batch. Oil pastels are so wonderful as a way to be soft but painterly, abstract but rendered, colourful but realistic....
This is the biggest oil pastel painting I've finished so far, at 22" tall. It is a study from my own photograph, and there is a large watercolour underpainting propping up the oil pastels, which really helped give me some incredible colour vibration that, sadly, the camera really can't capture.
November 20, 2025 at 5:39 PM
This is the biggest oil pastel painting I've finished so far, at 22" tall. It is a study from my own photograph, and there is a large watercolour underpainting propping up the oil pastels, which really helped give me some incredible colour vibration that, sadly, the camera really can't capture.
One of the most surprising elements of oil pastels for me was how much the substrate affected the painting. This study was my first done on wood panel, and compared to absorbent paper, using them on wood prevents the oils from being absorbed, and the pastels work so much more like paints!
November 19, 2025 at 6:10 PM
One of the most surprising elements of oil pastels for me was how much the substrate affected the painting. This study was my first done on wood panel, and compared to absorbent paper, using them on wood prevents the oils from being absorbed, and the pastels work so much more like paints!
hey Toronto, something magical is coming your way very, very soon...
November 18, 2025 at 9:56 PM
hey Toronto, something magical is coming your way very, very soon...
One of the first things I try to figure out with any new medium is what it can do better than other mediums, and the blendability of oil pastels does make working with certain light effects extremely fun!
November 18, 2025 at 4:06 PM
One of the first things I try to figure out with any new medium is what it can do better than other mediums, and the blendability of oil pastels does make working with certain light effects extremely fun!
This fall I took on a project I’ve been meaning to do for a while – I have made a colouring book based on my playmap The Tower of the Forest Wizard! Grab yourself a print-at-home version here: sorcererscatalogue.itch.io/the-tower-of...
November 17, 2025 at 8:01 PM
This fall I took on a project I’ve been meaning to do for a while – I have made a colouring book based on my playmap The Tower of the Forest Wizard! Grab yourself a print-at-home version here: sorcererscatalogue.itch.io/the-tower-of...
Gonna take this week to share some highlights from the year I spent learning to paint with oil pastels! I had dug out an old set of mine from my teens after watching a gouache artist share some of her oil pastels on youtube, and this study was my first serious foray with the medium since ~ 2002.
November 17, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Gonna take this week to share some highlights from the year I spent learning to paint with oil pastels! I had dug out an old set of mine from my teens after watching a gouache artist share some of her oil pastels on youtube, and this study was my first serious foray with the medium since ~ 2002.
Crystal islands have been a running theme in my work for ten years now, and they are some of my favourite paintings. If you need something magical for your home this holiday season, you should check out the collection on INPRNT: https://www.inprnt.com/collections/portablecity/crystal-islands/
November 6, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Crystal islands have been a running theme in my work for ten years now, and they are some of my favourite paintings. If you need something magical for your home this holiday season, you should check out the collection on INPRNT: https://www.inprnt.com/collections/portablecity/crystal-islands/
Another style exploration, this time based on a photo taken back in highschool of a shady downtown courtyard. I wrote more about the whole process https://www.portablecity.net/style-test-fantastic-skyscraper-reinterpretation/
November 4, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Another style exploration, this time based on a photo taken back in highschool of a shady downtown courtyard. I wrote more about the whole process https://www.portablecity.net/style-test-fantastic-skyscraper-reinterpretation/
I love a moody supermarket shot and I should go out someday and shoot some for my own ref!
November 2, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I love a moody supermarket shot and I should go out someday and shoot some for my own ref!
Gouache painting of a boat, based on my own photos from Newfoundland.
November 1, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Gouache painting of a boat, based on my own photos from Newfoundland.
I think November, so imminent, may be the most occult month in my mind, at least in the northern hemisphere. Sorcery, magic, unearthly powers and more, springing forth from the dying ground as winter arrives.
October 31, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I think November, so imminent, may be the most occult month in my mind, at least in the northern hemisphere. Sorcery, magic, unearthly powers and more, springing forth from the dying ground as winter arrives.
We studied the Hawthorne method at school when I was really properly learning to paint, and as a collection of art truisms it was hit or miss, but one thing he repeated over and over stuck with me and still holds up whenever I'm feeling stumped:
October 30, 2025 at 2:06 PM
We studied the Hawthorne method at school when I was really properly learning to paint, and as a collection of art truisms it was hit or miss, but one thing he repeated over and over stuck with me and still holds up whenever I'm feeling stumped:
Continuing to test drive different digital painting approaches in an effort to find something that is firing on all levels! This was based on my own ref photo from the northwest territories, which feels like cheating because everything up there felt magnificent.
October 30, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Continuing to test drive different digital painting approaches in an effort to find something that is firing on all levels! This was based on my own ref photo from the northwest territories, which feels like cheating because everything up there felt magnificent.
This wizard tower was one of the most fun projects I've done to date, created to be enticing, magical, whimsical, and, in playmat format, a great place to tell stories.
October 27, 2025 at 3:27 PM
This wizard tower was one of the most fun projects I've done to date, created to be enticing, magical, whimsical, and, in playmat format, a great place to tell stories.
Almost 25% of renting households across the whole province are considered to be in "core housing need" - defined by stats canada here:
October 24, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Almost 25% of renting households across the whole province are considered to be in "core housing need" - defined by stats canada here:
Two more style tests studying photos this time; i think I'm finding something reproducible with my current process that I'm excited about!
October 24, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Two more style tests studying photos this time; i think I'm finding something reproducible with my current process that I'm excited about!