On Saturday, October 20, GDC Manitoba presented Pencils Down: A BlueSky Workshop. Led by Mark Baskinger, associate professor in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh), and William Bardel, principal of Luminant Design (New York City), the workshop offered clear and concise ways to learn how hand-sketching techniques – with pencils and pens – are an effective means of recording, presenting and sharing ideas. A primer on sketching, it helped the attendees to become more confident and better visual communicators, while demonstrating simple ways of using drawing to enhance the process of collaborative design.