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

Grace J.
August 10, 2025August 10, 2025
CU BSN, HUMN-303

Student Name

Chamberlain University

HUMN-303: Introduction to the Humanities

Prof. Name

Date

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

Art, in its many forms, serves as a mirror of human emotions, experiences, and perspectives. An artist’s work is often inspired by a combination of factors—ranging from personal emotions, environmental influences, life experiences, and sometimes a specific muse. Art acts as a unique mode of communication, capable of telling a story without uttering a single word. What makes this communication remarkable is its subjectivity: each viewer interprets the same piece in different ways, often crafting their own narrative based on personal perception.

My Inspiration

What inspired my chosen art piece?

For my inspiration piece, I selected an oil painting by Paul Cézanne titled Mont Sainte-Victoire, created between 1886 and 1887. This work depicts the artist’s hometown, Aix-en-Provence in France, where Cézanne’s home had a direct view of the mountain. The mountain itself became a recurring subject in his art, serving as his muse for many landscapes. Historical accounts suggest that Mont Sainte-Victoire was once believed to be sacred and even home to a deity (Martin & Jacobus, 2018).

This painting conveys a sense of serenity through its harmonious combination of green, yellow, and blue hues. For me, nature has always been a source of happiness and peace. Observing the vibrancy of life around us instills hope and a reminder that beauty still exists in the world.

According to research, colors in art significantly influence emotional responses. Bright colors often evoke positivity, while darker hues may evoke feelings of sadness or melancholy (Sutton & Altarriba, 2015). For instance, in our Week 2 assignment, I explored Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, a somber painting from his Blue Period, dominated by muted grays, deep blues, and blacks. Interestingly, Picasso himself regarded Cézanne as his “one and only master” (The Art Story, 2019). The contrast between their works reflects the difference in their personal lives—Picasso’s art from a time of hardship, and Cézanne’s from a place of peace and natural inspiration.

Table 1

Comparison Between Cézanne’s and Picasso’s Art Styles

Artist	Artwork	Color Palette	Emotional Tone	Inspiration Source
Paul Cézanne	Mont Sainte-Victoire	Greens, yellows, blues	Calmness, peace	Natural landscape (Aix)
Pablo Picasso	The Old Guitarist	Grays, dark blues, blacks	Sadness, melancholy	Poverty and hardship

My Creation

How did I translate my inspiration into my own work?

Inspired by Cézanne’s serene mountain scene, I created my own landscape drawing titled Just 3 Flowers. My artwork depicts rolling hills with three prominent flowers in the foreground and smaller hills fading into the background, giving the illusion of depth. I used colored pencils for the main color work and a black marker to outline and define shapes.

The hills were shaded in varying greens to mimic the vibrancy found in Cézanne’s landscapes, while the flowers were colored with blue petals and orange centers. For me, the petals represent the expansive sky, and the orange centers symbolize the sun. Although the composition contains only three flowers, they hold deep personal symbolism—representing peace, hope, and happiness for myself, my loved ones, and humanity as a whole.

Connection

How are the two works related?

Thematically, both works celebrate the beauty of nature as a symbol of life’s positive elements—peace, happiness, and hope. While both are landscapes, they differ in artistic execution. Cézanne’s work demonstrates refined mastery over line, form, and texture, whereas my piece embraces simplicity and personal symbolism.

Despite the difference in technical skill, both works incorporate natural elements—mountains, hills, trees, flowers—that contribute to their beauty. Cézanne drew inspiration from a real and culturally significant mountain, giving his work a profound historical and geographical context. In contrast, my work was born from a personal desire for tranquility, especially as I navigate the challenges of nursing school during a global pandemic