Considerations of Scenic Art Courses 343 Drawing As already related in this text by the authors and by several of the interviewed artists, a scenic artist must be able to draw well. Granted, many students in a scenic painting class are not there because it is a career choice, but because the knowledge of these skills is useful for other disciplines. However, an assessment of drawing skills and how it would benefit their fields of focused study is still useful. If the student's field of focus is scenic artistry and his or her drawing skills are weak, then a parallel program of drawing classes and sketchbook discipline should commence. The discipline of a life-drawing course is a very effective way for a student to improve their drawing skill. Granted, the human form is generally not a routine subject in scenic painting aside from occasional statuary and portraits, but life-drawing courses are very worthwhile for teaching the student to "see." When students must draw dozens of poses in a session a few hours once or twice a week, it challenges them to get their eye and hand in sync, to learn to see, and to not draw what they "think" they see. They learn how to get their head out of the way. I also encourage my students to copy from drawings of master artists. This exercise of copying masterwork dates back centuries; accounts in Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptor, and Architects cite this exercise as standard for young artists entered into I do not push beginning students too hard in this technique, as there are already abundant new skill sets being addressed. In advanced scene painting courses, I assign a large paper project, usually 6 × 4 feet in size. I either choose from a master drawing or assign a drawing I have done, such as Figure 9-32, which is based on two-point perspective. Coaching and exercises in linear perspective are especially important to scenic art training because it is a complex topic. Because software programs that solve problems of linear perspective in smaller scale are so accessible, many students are no longer drilled to perfect their linear perspective skills in other classes. Granted, these are not among the most popular exercises among the students, but software solutions do not prepare students for the challenge of cartooning a full-scale street drop. It is interesting how resistant many students, who are otherwise very enthusiastic to learn how to paint, are to learning how to draw well. But once the skills are taught and if the discipline can be instilled, the benefits in more accomplished painting skills become apparent. Practical Considerations A course in scenic artistry is a somewhat different animal from other courses offered at the college level. It is more lab course than