HUMN 303 Week 3 Art Creation & Reflection – Sculpture, Painting, or Drawing

Student Name

Chamberlain University

HUMN-303: Introduction to the Humanities

Prof. Name

Date

Week 3 Art Creation & Reflection – Sculpture, Painting, or Drawing

Art has always been a universal form of communication, serving as a medium through which artists express emotions, experiences, and unique perspectives. Beyond visual appeal, art often conveys deeper narratives and meanings, enabling audiences to engage with it on both personal and cultural levels. Viewers interpret art differently depending on their background, emotions, and experiences, which makes each artistic encounter distinct. Whether inspired by human emotions, natural landscapes, or symbolic elements, art allows us to connect with something greater than ourselves.

My Inspiration

For this reflection, I selected Paul Cézanne’s oil painting Mont Sainte-Victoire, produced between 1886 and 1887. The work portrays the famous mountain near his hometown of Aix-en-Provence, France, which became a recurring subject in many of his landscapes. The mountain held cultural and spiritual significance, often considered a sacred landmark in the region (Martin & Jacobus, 2018).

When I view this painting, it evokes a profound sense of peace and harmony. The carefully balanced use of green, yellow, and blue tones creates a calming and optimistic atmosphere. Personally, nature has always been a grounding force, offering hope and renewal in times of stress. Cézanne’s approach to capturing natural beauty resonates with my own appreciation of nature as a source of serenity.

Colors and textures in art play an essential role in shaping emotions. Bright colors, for example, often stimulate uplifting feelings, while darker hues can express sorrow or melancholy (Sutton & Altarriba, 2015). In Week 2’s assignment, I analyzed Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, which relies on muted tones of blue, black, and gray to depict grief and despair. Interestingly, Picasso admired Cézanne deeply, referring to him as his “one and only master” (The Art Story, 2019). This contrast highlights how two influential artists portrayed life through vastly different lenses: Cézanne focusing on tranquility and landscapes, and Picasso using art to reflect hardship and suffering during his Blue Period.

My Creation

Drawing inspiration from Cézanne’s landscapes, I created a piece titled Just 3 Flowers. My drawing portrays rolling hills with gradual layers in the background to provide depth and perspective. To bring my vision to life, I used colored pencils for the hills and flowers, alongside a black marker to emphasize outlines. The palette includes varying shades of green for the hills, reflecting Cézanne’s style, while the flowers feature blue petals with bright orange centers—symbolizing the balance of sky and sunlight.

Although I chose to illustrate only three flowers, each carries a symbolic meaning: peace, hope, and happiness. These values are central to my personal outlook and aspirations, both for myself and for those around me. While my drawing is simple compared to Cézanne’s masterpiece, the act of creating it allowed me to reflect on how art can capture emotions and intentions beyond words.

Connection

Both Cézanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire and my drawing emphasize the beauty of nature and the sense of hope it conveys. While Cézanne relied on oil paints to capture vast landscapes with intricate detail, my drawing is more modest in its scope and execution. Yet, both works serve as a celebration of the environment’s ability to bring comfort and positivity.

The key differences lie in artistic technique and perspective. Cézanne is celebrated as a pioneer of modern art, influencing countless artists, including Picasso. His dedication to real-life landscapes imbued his work with timeless cultural significance. In contrast, I approach art as a personal hobby, not a professional pursuit. Despite this difference, creating Just 3 Flowers gave me the opportunity to experience the calmness I initially felt when viewing Cézanne’s painting.

As a nursing student navigating the stress of academics during a pandemic, I discovered that spending even thirty minutes on art offered me peace and a sense of escape. This creative practice revealed that art does not need to be perfect to be meaningful—it can simply be a form of self-care and mindfulness.

HUMN 303 Week 3 Art Creation & Reflection – Sculpture, Painting, or Drawing

References

Martin, F. D., & Jacobus, L. A. (2018). The humanities through the arts (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

Sutton, T. M., & Altarriba, J. (2015). Color associations to emotion and emotion-laden words: A collection of norms for stimulus construction and selection. Behavior Research Methods, 48(2), 686–728. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0598-8

The Art Story. (2019). Pablo Picasso. Retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/artist/picasso-pablo/

HUMN 303 Week 3 Art Creation & Reflection – Sculpture, Painting, or Drawing

Visual Art. (n.d.). Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings (1882–1906). Retrieved from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/paintings-analysis/montagne-sainte-victoire.htm