Rebecca,
I have taken the drawing course, but was not able to have it count as graduate course credit. I didn’t need the credit, so I didn’t push very hard.
However, following your line of thought regarding the independent study, if you are taking a full course load, additional hours may not cost anything more. If you are a full-time student this may work for you. You would just need to find a willing professor, and work with them to outline the independent study. I did do several independent studies, and my experience is that professors can take these on at their discretion.
I don’t know if that helps, but I wish you luck!
Christa