A native of Kansas, Brandon Sanderson spent his formative years in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the base of Cheyenne Mountain. He holds a B.S. from Colorado State University-Pueblo in Printmaking and Computer Programming and an M.F.A. In Printmaking from the University of South Dakota, where he studied under Lloyd Menard.

Sanderson has been teaching printmaking and drawing at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke since 2008. From 2005 to 2008, he taught at College of the Sequoias and Bakersfield College in California. He has exhibited in a total of 217 exhibitions since 2000. This includes 72 juried, 75 invitational, and 23 international shows. He has organized 4 print exchanges and participated in 47. During his time at UNCP, he has co-organized one exhibition and brought in 15 visiting artists from 14 states. Since 2008, he has held 9 printmaking workshops at 7 universities in 6 states. His work is in collections in 13 countries.