What are the best scenic painting art courses worldwide?

[Sitbon]

Hi

At 43yo I'm contemplating a career change and am looking for informed advice from those in the industry with at least 4 or more years professional experience as a scenic painter about quality course either short term or degree worldwide. I'd especially like to know about the most reputable courses in the UK or USA which provide excellent instruction in all aspects of scenic painting with possible real world applications through secondments or attachments to companies.

Any links, advice, resources very much appreciated.

thanks

Andrew

[MPowers]

IMHO, one of the best, non academic programs is Cobalt.
Backdrops Backdrop Rentals Scenery
Cobalt Studios - Training Programs - Scenic Artist Training Program

I do not know anything, good or bad about Full Sail. Many Grad School have excellent programs, but it has been so long since I was active as a painter, I have lost touch as to which currently have the better programs, you'll have to do your own research there.

[gafftaper]

Hate to be Mr. Gloom and Doom, but I would be nervous about changing my career into scenic painting. First of all you have the development of video technology and the continual drop in costs of projection resulting in a rapidly increasing number of shows using projection instead of painted drops. Then you have the development of cheaper large format print technology. These days, when you rent a drop from one of the big rental houses there is a strong chance that it will be printed by a computer and not painted by a person. I first ran into this about 5 years ago when we rented a brick wall drop from Grosh, I have no doubts that trend is continuing. Finally, my Dad used to work for the union office of a sign painter's union. Back in the old days (as in 10 years ago), every billboard in town was silk screened and painted by real human artists. Today all those guys are out of work and there are no sign shops in this city that don't use computer printers.

Yes there will always be a need for scenic artists. However, I think you will see the larger theaters switching to video projection and to printed drops more and more. There will still be work painting floors and sets of course, and there will always be work at lower budget theaters, but I would expect the competition to get more intense competing for the dwindling number of good paying gigs.

[Okugi]

As a professional scenic artist I have to respectfully disagree with Gafftaper. If you equate scenic art with drops and theatre only, then perhaps yes, the available of good paying jobs as a freelance artist will be hard to come by. However, the profession of scenic art doesn't begin and end with drops or with theatre. But lets say for the sake of argument it does; your success as a scenic artist will greatly depend on where you live. There are plenty of shops in the north east that employ a number of artists to paint drops for operas, ballet, and for Broadway. The same companies that can afford painted drops now will continue to commission painted drops because no printed or projected background can match a well done hand-painted drop. It's the difference between looking at a Pollack painting in a book and actually seeing one: there is an artistry that prints can't beat and like hand painted portraits, there is something to be said for a theater that can afford a professionally painted drop. In addition to the painted drop, there are scrims and translucent drops that can't be recreated through printing nor replaced by a projection. Finally, a scenic artist isn't just a painter, he or she is a sculptor, fabricator, a master of textures.

As technology advances and becomes more affordable, it doesn't necessarily mean the end of scenic painting as a career. Many of the same professional shops that build and paint for theatre also build and paint for movies, television, theme parts, and trade shows. You'll have to join the union if you want to paint for movies and television, which has it's pros and cons that have been discussed in another forum, but doing so does open you to a much wider range of possible employment. As long as there are sets there will be a need for skill scenic artist.

Here are a list of a number of scenic shops:
MICHAEL HAGEN INC: scene painting for opera and ballet
Ravenswood
Scenic Art Studios paints for Broadway, Ballet, Opera, and other theatre venues.
Backdrops Backdrop Rentals Scenery
I re-posted Cobalt Studios because it's not just a school, it's a professional shop as well.

As far as schools, I can speak highly of my alma mater North Carolina School of the Arts, and I have heard good things about CalArts.

[josh88]

I have a friend who just did a course with cobalt and she loved it and said it was fantastic.


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[techieman33]

As exciting as projection is, what I'm waiting for is e-ink to scale up and be true full color I think that's where the future will be.

[ruinexplorer]

Problem with e-ink is that the technology is consumer driven. The color e-ink did not have much of a chance to take off because the back-lit LCD screens have been more popular. I don't think we will see this ever happen, unfortunately.

[Goodspeed]

Goodspeed Musicals offers a week-long Introduction to Scenic Painting Intensive in January. During this six-day intensive introductory program, participants will receive expert instruction from a team of esteemed teaching artists, including current and former Goodspeed staff. Participants will learn to create textured surfaces using a variety of scenic painting techniques. They will also begin to master scenic painting skills such as cartooning, color mixing, squaring up, drop layout, and wood graining.You can find more information here: Goodspeed Musicals Introduction to Scenic Painting Intensive.

Good luck with your search!

[Footer]

Goodspeed Musicals offers a week-long Introduction to Scenic Painting Intensive in January. During this six-day intensive introductory program, participants will receive expert instruction from a team of esteemed teaching artists, including current and former Goodspeed staff. Participants will learn to create textured surfaces using a variety of scenic painting techniques. They will also begin to master scenic painting skills such as cartooning, color mixing, squaring up, drop layout, and wood graining.You can find more information here: Goodspeed Musicals Introduction to Scenic Painting Intensive.

Good luck with your search!

These guys do some excellent work, if you can go to the course, DO! I have worked with several people out of their shop and they are all top notch.