Le Havre with rain clouds 1922

Paul Signac made "Le Havre with Rain Clouds", using watercolor, and pencil to capture a moment in time. I love the scribbly lines, they are so full of energy! The buildings and boats are suggested with a few deft strokes. Signac simplifies the scene. The mood is so grey, you can feel the rain, but then there are these little pops of color, like the red sails, and those buildings, almost like a child’s building blocks, with touches of pink and blue. The way he layers the watercolor is so interesting, it's thin in places, letting the paper show through, and thicker in others, creating depth and texture. Look at how he renders the rain with diagonal pencil strokes, almost like musical notations on a page. Signac reminds me of someone like Bonnard, not just in the subject matter but in the feeling that the art making process is an ongoing conversation. These guys weren’t afraid to leave things open, letting us fill in the gaps.