Reflection Essay Art 3 2025

Throughout this year in Art 3, I have been exposed to and learned many different mediums and methods of creating art, as well as a rich background in art history. I have learned that there is always more than one way to do something, especially with a creative piece. I believe I was stuck in a previous mindset that there's only one way to create art to be considered pretty and that it was the only way art should be made. But that is not the reality, there is so much more than just my previous criteria of what’s considered art.

I have seen the greatest growth in this class with learning to create without reference. Almost all of my previous pieces came from a reference or study, and never usually from my mind. While that resulted in a good understanding of anatomy when drawing figures, or a smooth final product, there’s a level of ingenuity that’s taken away and the whole process becomes less creative. In this course, I have drawn and painted from life rather than pictures and even painted and sculpted from ideas in my mind. I feel as if I have developed a whole other part of the process that I may have been missing before, a level of creativity that makes any work a person creates truly theirs.

I feel that an area I need to improve the most is still learning to create without reference. While I have greatly improved from where I was at the beginning of the year, I’ve found that I’m still a long way away from becoming something even greater than what I am currently. There are still so many exercises and pieces from my mind that I want to create that I cannot conjure, but that is what I am excited to develop in next year's Art 4 class where I have the freedom to truly do so.

To move forwards in this goal next year I have many options that I have been exposed to this year. I now understand many more mediums, which will allow me to explore new areas of artwork that I never considered previously. This along with the knowledge of previous artists throughout history and their journey and techniques could allow for me to fully develop any idea that comes to my mind. Overall I am very excited to explore these potential options in the future to create even more works that I am passionate about.