Beach Baby, 9x9 acrylic on paper

(Breakfast in Bed, 10x10, soft pastel)

People often ask where I find inspiration for my paintings. The truth is, I rarely have to look very far. The quiet corners of my home—the places I pass every day without much thought—are often the ones that hold the most beauty. A softly made bed, the light falling across a breakfast table, or the glimpse of a vintage bathtub through a floral curtain can become the beginning of a painting.

Breakfast Nook, 9x12, soft pastel

I love working in soft pastel because it allows me to capture not only what I see, but also how a space feels. Rather than painting every detail, I look for the gentle rhythm of light, the harmony of color, and the quiet atmosphere that makes a room feel lived in. I'm drawn to ordinary moments because they invite us to slow down and notice the beauty that often goes unseen.

A Time to Relax, 12x9, soft pastel

As an artist, I'm continually inspired by the familiar spaces where life quietly unfolds. My hope is that these paintings encourage others to pause, appreciate the warmth of home, and perhaps discover that inspiration has been waiting in the next room all along.

Happy painting!

— Liz 

Since our recent move to Maryland, I've found myself wondering: Will my art change? It's an interesting question because, whether we realize it or not, we are all influenced by our surroundings. 

Below is a pastel painting created shortly after the move, using a reference photo of our kitchen nook. Looking at it now, I don't think the biggest change is the location itself, but rather an evolution in my style. Lately, I've noticed my work becoming softer, with fewer hard edges and less emphasis on detail. I'm increasingly drawn to suggestion rather than description—providing just enough visual information for the viewer to enter the scene and bring their own memories, emotions, and interpretations with them.

Perhaps that's what I'm seeking most in my work these days: not to tell viewers exactly what to see, but to create space for them to discover something of their own.

Quiet Morning, 9 x 12 pastel on Pastelbord

I was curious to see whether this growing sense of softness would carry over into another medium. After months of putting off experimenting with my new Cobra oil paints, I finally stopped procrastinating and painted a simple arrangement of radishes on an 8x8 canvas.

Peeking Through, 8 x 8 oil on canvas

Rather than focusing on detail, I began with a large two-inch brush, blocking in broad shapes and areas of color. I approached the painting much as I have my recent pastels—relying on subtle suggestions, softened edges, and the idea that not everything needs to be fully explained. It was a refreshing exercise in restraint and a reminder that sometimes the most compelling passages in a painting are the ones left unfinished in the viewer's mind.

I'm looking forward to seeing how my art will potentially change. Whether working in pastel or oil, I'm finding myself drawn more and more to merely suggesting rather than defining.

Happy painting,

Liz

Class Date: March 7th, 2026

In this two-hour online class, participants will paint an elegant still life using soft pastels, guided through the process from start to finish. The instructor will demonstrate techniques for composition, value, and layering color, with time to complete one pastel painting during the class.

This class welcomes artists of all levels, from beginners to advanced. Students will work with professional-quality soft pastels and pastel papers that can receive water-based media, using watercolor underpainting to establish structure and depth. Emphasis is placed on observation, expressive mark-making, and developing confidence with soft pastels.

Materials Needed:

• Soft pastels (Sennelier, Schminke, or other high-quality soft pastels)
• Pastel paper suitable for water-based media (Pastelmat or Canson Mi-Teintes Velvet recommended)
• Watercolor paint, including Burnt Sienna (required)

Click the link below for more information and to register!

More information and registration link

FREE All-Access Pass

Week of Sample Online Classes

January 12-17, 2026

I'll be teaching "Bringing Still Life to Life with Soft Pastels" on January 16th (time TBD).

This will be a one-hour demo of a still life pastel. 

If you're interested in registering for free and gaining access to a week of sample online classes, register below:

https://ilchiostro.com/workshop/free-all-access-pass-week-of-sample-on-line-classes/

Discover the timeless beauty and expressive possibilities of soft pastel in this two-day, hands-on workshop. Whether you’re new to pastels or looking to refine your skills, you’ll learn techniques to bring elegance and depth to your still life paintings while completing 2–3 finished pieces. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the beauty of soft pastel, gain confidence in your techniques, and create several stunning works of art. Recommended for beginner to intermediate skill levels.

What You’ll Learn:

• Underpainting techniques using watercolor to create luminous effects

• How to use artist apps to understand value 

• Tips for setting up your own still life for strong compositions

• Smartphone strategies for enhancing and editing reference photos

• Step-by-step guidance and demonstrations to complete 2-3 still life paintings

MATERIALS
Please bring a set of soft pastels (Sennelier, Schmincke, or other professional-quality pastel sets recommended; the best local store in Meininger Art Supply) AND a sack lunch.
Your instructor will provide: Pastel paper, watercolors, and a paintbrush, plus bottled water and juice.

CLICK HERE to go to the Cottonwood Center for the Arts website to register

Painting the Soft Pastel Still Life
Saturday, June 14, 2025 (10am-1pm)
Cottonwood Center for the Arts
427 E. Colorado Ave.
Colorado SprIngs, CO 80903

In this beginner to intermediate soft pastel workshop, learn how to paint a bowl of cherries! You will learn how to determine values in a photograph in order to choose the correct colors for your painting, as well as how to mix cool and warm colors to create vibrancy. You will also learn how to create an underpainting by blocking in dark values and using a paintbrush and rubbing alcohol.

MATERIALS
Your instructor will supply easels, brushes, rubbing alcohol, and your reference photo. Here’s what to purchase and bring to class:
• Soft pastel set (Sennelier, Schminke, Blue Earth, Unison). Here is a set we found on Amazon. The strategies learned in this course will NOT work with hard pastels or student grade pastels.
• At least 2 sheets of pastel paper, 9x12 (Uart 400 grit in Sand is ideal…we don’t recommend Canson). Here is a pad of ten sheets of paper online.

The best place to shop for these materials locally is Meininger Art Supply at 814 S. Tejon.

Click the link below to register!

Register

In this tutorial, I'll walk you step by step of how I painted "Rose & Shadow."

1. I started out with 6x6 charcoal Pastelmat taped to a desk easel.

2. Using the reference photo (which you can see in the final steps below) on my iPad, which I found on www.unsplash.com (a great resource for royalty free photos), I sketched a loose drawing with a hard pastel.

3. I blocked in a very dark blue first on the left and parts of the right seen below. I then blocked in a vibrant red. I used my pinky finger to smudge where the dark blue and red meet to create a soft edge. I then added in a dark bluish green.

4.  Whenever I paint, I make myself remember that "two colors are better than one." In other words, although the rose is red, I need to add another color to add dimension - red is a warm color, so I chose a vibrant pink to add in subtle highlights. A warm and cool color mixed together really makes a painting pop. On top of the dark cool green, I added a warm yellowish green. 

5. For the shadow areas, I added a very dark purple and a dark blue and used my pinky finger to blend together.

6.  I always say that I don't know where I'm going unless I know where I'm at. In other words, I don't paint one thing first in its entirety, then move on to another object. I had to block in the background in order to see how that would make the rose pop and if any adjustments needed to be made. I used an ice blue. Two colors are always better than one, and I added a very light orange over the blue. The coolness of the blue and the warmness of the light orange created more dimension.

7.  These leaves to the right gave me some trouble. In hindsight, I should've taken artistic license and not included the large leaf behind the front leaf (in the end, you will see I did end up doing away with the back leaf, but I paid the price due to putting a light color blue over a dark green = mud). 

8. In this picture, I still had the large leaf in the lower right. In order to cover it, I had to take ice blue and go over it, which resulted in some heavy smudging. To make the painting more cohesive, I had to take my pinky finger and smudge the entire background to make it a solid color (the charcoal color of the paper no longer showed through, which is too bad because I like the paper to show through).

9.  Overall, I was still pleased with the final result! I like the soft edges. 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Happy painting,

Liz

In this post, I'll walk you step by step of how I painted Two Pinones.

Here are the colors I used for the painting (I really need to clean these pastel sticks!):

-First row: an assortment of various tones of cool and warm toned greens

-Second row: bluish gray for sky (covered eventually with purple-blue - not shown here, light yellow, my dynamic duo of dark orange and dark purple which I use a lot for shadows, dark blue, and black)

-Third row: dark red, very light orange/salmon

With the exception of the dark red, all of these are Blue Earth pastels from Dakota Pastel. This is the Nomad set. I really like this set for landscape painting. It has a limited selection of red, however. I think the dark red used is from Sennelier.

1. I started out with 9 x 12 charcoal Pastlmat paper and sketched in a loose drawing. I always use a reference photo. The particular reference photo I used was a picture taken from our recent trip to Placitas, NM.

2.  I started blocking in the shrubs and sky. I used black for the shrubs and a very light orange for the sky.

3. I added a blue-gray over the light orange on the sky. Then, I started added a mixture of medium and light greens on the right shrub. I used a dark blue green, light blue green, and a yellow-green. In order to make things look realistic, it's important to mix cool colors and warm colors of the same value. I always tell myself that I need to know where I'm at before I know where I'm going with the painting. I don't paint all the same things first, then move on to all of the same thing next (in this case, I did not paint all the trees first, then paint the ground). In order to see how the shrub looks, I added the path to the right. This gives me an idea of how things are starting to come together and if I need to make any adjustments.

4. Another piece of advice that I've always remembered is that a color is dead without its complement. The complementary color of green is red, so I used a medium red and added a few markings in order to bring the green to life.

5.  I blocked in a rust yellow for the ground - not wanting the foreground to look monotone, I added in a very light salmon color which is a bit on the cool side. The mixture of yellow and a pinkish color created depth.

6.  For the shadows, I used a dark purple and added hints of dark orange as its complementary color. There's little spots of light in the lower right corner of the shrub and I used the salmon colored pastel to dot these in. I thought something looked off because the gray sky I originally had was lighter in value than the foreground. I added in a purplish blue over top and thought this brought the background and foreground together in a more cohesive way. Here you can see the left side where I started blocking in the purplish blue and worked my way across the sky. 

7. And here's the finished piece! I added my signature with a black pastel pencil on the lower left, keeping in mind where a mat would be placed.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Happy painting,

Liz

In this post, I'll walk you step by step of how I painted Tea and Raspberries.

1. I started out with Pastelbord. I usually don't use this (I use Uart 400 grit or Pastelmat in charcoal), but I wanted to try something different. I liked the sturdiness of it, and I didn't need to tape it down to the easel. I would buy it again.

2.  Next, a simple drawing of the teacup, saucer, and raspberries. This was tough. Circular objects are always difficult. The basic shape was there, and although it wasn't perfect, I moved on to blocking in color.

3. I read somewhere that "a color without its complement is dead," and I've been making sure not to have dead colors. Complementary colors are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. I wanted the cup to be blue, so underneath, I blocked in various shades of orange (the complement of blue). As you can see, things are starting to look like a hot mess, but this is the critical stage where you can't give up because it will get better. I started layering on a medium blue over the orange. The darker orange on the bottom of the cup mixed with the blue automatically darkens the blue.

4. I blocked in a very light ice blue above the teacup, then added dark blue and dark purple to the shadows. I gently added in touches of dark orange in the shadows, remembering that a color without its complement is dead. Even shadows have hints of light in them. The warmness of the orange mixed with the coolness of the blue creates vibrancy. I also took my pinky finger and made little circles on the teacup to blend out the strokes. I did this with the shadow areas too in most parts then added back some dark orange. I added black on the rim of the teacup and saucer. I then took a vibrant red and blocked in the three raspberries. For the darker areas of the raspberries, I gently painted black and then smudged with my finger.

5.  I blocked in the other raspberries and used the same method for darkening them (using black and smudging). I also added the shadows using dark purple and dark blue with hints of orange. You'll notice the underside of the raspberries have a sprinkling of cobalt blue. The blue adds an interesting splash of color in the dark shadow. The tablecloth appears white; however, I used a very light blue. I also sprinkled in a very light orange, remembering that every color must have its complement present. The light orange (warm color) mixed with the blue (cool color) works nicely and adds depth to the tablecloth.

6.  I added finishing touches to the raspberries using light pink. 

7.  I thought the rim of the cup (top area) needed to recede into the background. 

8.  I took my finger and moved it along the rim to soften it. I also added more blue and teal to the handle of the cup to define it. I signed my name in the bottom right corner. I try to keep in mind how much space a mat will take up before deciding on where to sign. And here's the finished piece!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. :)

Happy painting!

Liz