"Landfall" – Capturing the Chaos of a Storm in Paint

Landfall: When a Storm Decides Your Palette for You

"Landfall" the sactual painting is 8” x 10” acrylic on unstreched canvas matted to 11” x 14”

The ever-struggling but somehow-still-painting artist. I’d love to tell you that "Landfall" was carefully planned. I stood before the canvas with a grand vision, swirling my brush in full command of the elements. But the is not how it happened. I live only a couple blocks from the beach so I am down there regulsrily in all kinds of conditions. “Landfall” available for purchase here.

"Landfall" the sactual painting is 8” x 10” acrylic on unstreched canvas. matted to 11” x 14”

This painting? It had a mind of its own. I set out to capture the chaos of a storm. What interested me was rush, the weight, the unpredictable swirl of wind and water. The thing about storms, though, is that they don’t like to sit still. Every time I tried to lock one down in paint, it changed in some unpredictable way.

What Even Is Landfall?

Ever watch a storm roll in from the ocean? It moves with purpose, like it knows exactly what it’s about to wreck. That’s what I wanted "Landfall" to feel like. I wanted to capturethe split second before impact, when air and sea tangle together in a blur of energy.

There’s movement in the layers, a palette knife scraping through the chaos, textures thick enough to hold their own. I stuck with grays, blacks, and ghostly blues, because storms don’t do pastels.

Painting a Storm is …

I started with an underpainting. Simple, right? But then the storm changed that both real and metaphorical. Too much white? Now it looks like a snowstorm. Too much black? Now it’s just a void. Too much blue? Congratulations, you’ve painted a smurf .

At some point, the paint started doing whatever it wanted. And honestly? I just let it. Some of the best parts of "Landfall" happened when I stopped trying to control it and let the brush, the knife, and the sheer force of artistic frustration take over.

Lessons Learned When Painting “Landfall”

1. Storms don’t like rules. Neither does paint. Both will find a way to change your plans.

2. Sometimes, the best details come from accidents. (Or, in my case, from trying to fix it.)

3. You don’t fight the storm. You ride it.

In the end, "Landfall" came out exactly as it should. I wanted it raw, textured, full of movement. And maybe a little moody. Just like the weather.

Final Thoughts: Did I Win?

Well, the painting’ was done. But between the layers of impasto, the chaos of the brushwork, and the existential crisis in between, I think the storm and I called it a draw.