NCAD / 15-week optional Wednesday workshop / 4 hours / drop-in friendly

AI for Artists Without Selling Your Soul

A practical workshop for motion design, illustration, UX, animation, graphic design, 3D, and video students who need to understand AI without letting it flatten their voice.

How This Works

This is not an "AI makes art for you" course. It's a professional creative survival and leverage workshop. Every week has the same shape, and every week stands alone — drop in any Wednesday and leave with something useful.

1 · Context

What the tech is

What this technology actually is, where it fails, and why working artists should care. No hype.

2 · Demo

Real workflow, live

The instructor runs a real workflow — including the part where the AI gets it wrong, and the recovery.

3 · Lab

You make something

A constrained hands-on activity with variants for your track. A no-image-generation path always exists.

4 · Reflection

Where integrity lives

What did AI do? What did you decide? What needs verification or disclosure? Documented every week.

The deal: AI for friction, humans for meaning. Raw output is never finished work. Disclose where it matters. Verify before you trust. Skepticism is welcome when it's specific — read the Integrity Pact.

Weekly Workshops

Phase 1 · Literacy — Weeks 1–3 (everyone starts here)

Week 01

AI Without the Ick: Literacy, Integrity, and Creative Control

What modern AI is, what it is not, why artists distrust it, and how to use it without outsourcing taste, authorship, or responsibility.

You leave with: Personal AI Use Manifesto v1 Week 02

Prompting Like an Art Director: Briefs, References, and Critique Loops

Stop treating AI like a magic box; start treating it like a junior collaborator that needs context, constraints, references, and feedback.

You leave with: An AI-ready creative brief + critique rubric Week 03

Research, Moodboards, and Concept Development Without Copying

Accelerate research and ideation while avoiding lazy copying, shallow references, and fabricated facts.

You leave with: Concept board + verified source list + direction statement

Phase 2 · Your craft — Weeks 4–10 (come for your discipline, steal from the others)

Week 04

Image Generation and Editing for Illustration, Design, and Previs

Image tools as sketching, compositing, reference, and iteration systems — not replacement art machines.

You leave with: Process board, 6+ iterations + selection notes Week 05

Motion Design: Boards, Style Frames, Scripts, and Production Assistants

Develop motion concepts, write scripts, plan shots, create style-frame prompts, and reduce production admin.

You leave with: 15-second motion treatment pack Week 06

Animation and Story: Characters, Worlds, Continuity, and Previsualization

Story development, character sheets, beat boards, animatics, and continuity planning — while keeping acting, timing, and authorship.

You leave with: One-scene animation packet Week 07

Graphic Design and Branding: Systems, Layouts, Copy, and Production

Accelerate design systems, copy variants, production specs, and layout exploration — and learn why design judgment still decides everything.

You leave with: Mini brand sheet + asset checklist Week 08

UX and Product Design: Research, Flows, Wireframes, and Prototypes

Speed up research synthesis, personas, flows, microcopy, accessibility checks, and prototype planning — without inventing fake users.

You leave with: Task flow + low-fi wireframe + critique checklist Week 09

3D Workflows: Modeling Support, Materials, Scenes, and Render Planning

3D planning, reference, Blender scripts, materials, scene breakdowns, and render troubleshooting — while preserving modeling skill.

You leave with: 3D scene plan + one AI-assisted script Week 10

Audio, Voice, Video, and Multimodal Critique

Transcription, captions, temp VO, sound briefs, critique from screenshots, and multimodal feedback.

You leave with: Captioned critique packet + prioritized edit list

Phase 3 · Systems — Weeks 11–12 (the force multipliers)

Week 11

Coding for Artists: Websites, Tools, and Tiny Apps with Codex/Claude Code

Coding as a creative force multiplier: portfolio sites, calculators, generators, interactive experiments, and automation tools.

You leave with: A tiny tool spec + build prompt Week 12

Agentic Workflows: Automating the Boring Parts Without Losing Control

How agents break tasks into steps, use tools, edit files, check work, and handle repeatable production chores — with human checkpoints.

You leave with: Agent workflow spec with checkpoints

Phase 4 · Synthesis — Weeks 13–15 (make it yours)

Week 13