Courses
Studio + Lecture
Course instruction moves between traditional studio values and contemporary fabrication technology. Students learn to think with their hands, read images closely, build safely, model digitally, revise through critique, and understand how analog craft still anchors cutting-edge creative tools.
Brandon K. Witschi teaches studio and lecture-based art courses across foundations, three-dimensional design, Art Appreciation, and digital fabrication workshops. The courses are built around a central belief: strong making requires both material intelligence and conceptual clarity. Students are asked to see drawing, fabrication, software, critique, and documentation as connected parts of one creative process.
The classroom combines analog traditional values with industry-standard digital technology and software. Hand skills, measurement, joinery, craft, safety, observation, and critique are taught alongside CAD modeling, 3D printing, file preparation, digital collage, image editing, and hybrid fabrication workflows. The result is a course environment where students can move from sketchbook to shop, from lecture to prototype, and from digital model to physical object with purpose.
ARTS 1312Design II / 3D Design
Design II is a three-dimensional studio course focused on form, structure, space, material behavior, and professional practice. Students move through observation, sketching, maquettes, joinery, model-making, critique, documentation, and final fabrication while learning how spatial design problems are solved through both hands-on construction and digital planning.
- Elements and principles of three-dimensional design
- Woodworking, joinery, foam core, PVC, model-making, finishing, and critique
- Safety, tool literacy, craft, presentation, and documentation
- CAD thinking, STL workflows, 3D printing, laser/CNC awareness, and hybrid fabrication
ARTS 1313Foundations
Foundations is taught as a cross between 2D Design and emerging technology. Students learn the principles of design and elements of art through hands-on studio assignments that connect drawing, composition, visual organization, digital tools, and material experimentation.
- Line, shape, value, texture, pattern, scale, balance, rhythm, contrast, hierarchy, and composition
- Analog studio exercises that build visual literacy through direct making
- Digital image-making, file preparation, design software, and technology-supported iteration
- Projects that translate foundational 2D thinking into experimental, contemporary studio outcomes
ARTS 1301Art Appreciation
Lecture courses build visual literacy through vocabulary, media, technique, historical context, cultural interpretation, and applied creative projects. Art Appreciation is treated as active looking and active making: students analyze works of art, connect formal decisions to social and historical contexts, and test course concepts through creative assignments.
- Formal analysis, art terminology, media, process, and historical context
- Creative projects, response assignments, critique, and documentation
- Line studies, digital collage, process videos, and reflection
- Critical interpretation of art within cultural and historical frameworks
WorkshopsDigital Fabrication & Studio Technology
Workshop instruction introduces digital tools as extensions of studio thinking. Students learn how software, machines, and file preparation can support material intelligence instead of replacing it. The goal is practical fluency: enough command of the workflow to make better decisions in the studio.
- TinkerCAD, Blender, Fusion 360, Autodesk Education tools, Maya, and CAD modeling
- STL export, image-to-STL conversion, slicing, PLA/PETG setup, and Creality K2 Plus printing
- Photoshop, Illustrator, digital collage, image preparation, and visual communication
- Laser cutting, CNC awareness, mold-making, resin printing, and hybrid fabrication pathways
Course Method
Analog Values : Digital Fluency
Traditional craft and emerging technology are integrated as one studio language. Hand skills, material tests, drawing, fabrication, critique, CAD modeling, 3D printing, digital collage, AI-supported research, and machine workflows work together to help students expand ideas, make better choices, and build resolved physical work.
StudioMaterial First
Students practice drawing, measuring, cutting, sanding, bending, gluing, joining, finishing, documenting, and revising. Craft is framed as a visible form of thinking.
LectureContext First
Vocabulary, art history, design lineage, formal analysis, and cultural context give students language for why an object, image, or system matters.
TechnologyWorkflow First
Software and machines are introduced through usable workflows: model, export, slice, prototype, test, revise, print, document, and critique. AI is integrated as a tool to expand ideas, research possibilities, and refine direction, not to replace authorship or create the work for the student.
Assignment Models
Studio Scenarios
Assignments are presented as building blocks calibrated to student skill level. Each project develops technical confidence through research, demonstrations, material tests, and prototypes before the final concept is framed like an art call, with critiques that help students understand how the work affects viewers.
Project StudyVolt & Vector
A functional lighting project that begins with analog research, sketching, proportion, and wiring before moving into digital modeling, STL preparation, 3D printing, PVC construction, joinery, and critique.
- Students wire a socket, plug, and inline switch while learning safety and basic electrical function.
- Research connects designer lighting, natural forms, and manmade objects into a clear design lineage.
- TinkerCAD, Blender, image-to-STL workflows, and Creality slicing are used to produce printed components.
- The final lamp is resolved through expanded PVC, dowels, glue, heat-forming, documentation, and reflection.
Project StudyStrength Beyond Strength
A protective-object project where students design a transformable structure that can withstand a drop while protecting a 3D printed component. The assignment joins structural problem-solving, wood joinery, prototyping, and sculptural form.
- Students research protection systems, wood joinery, and transformable objects.
- Sketches, foam core prototypes, and scaled digital components establish the design path.
- Wood construction uses glue, friction, dowels, finish, and physical testing.
- Critique evaluates function, durability, transformation, documentation, and sculptural resolution.
Project StudyLine, Image, and Historical Context
Art Appreciation projects ask students to translate lecture content into creative practice through line studies, digital collage, historical context research, critique, and written response.
- Students apply vocabulary, composition, media awareness, and design principles.
- Projects require process documentation to show student-made development.
- Lecture content connects studio choices to broader histories, eras, and cultural frameworks.
- Assessment values applied understanding over prior artistic experience.
Teaching inquiries: course, workshop, lecture, and collaboration conversations can begin through the contact page. Include the course level, audience, schedule, space, tools available, and the kind of outcome you want students to build toward.