Years ago, I would spend countless hours writing and drawing in black books. I remember getting my first one when I was 17 and the possibilities were endless. It was also very important to have a good quantity of pencils, sketching markers, colored pencils and pens to make sure the pieces I put in looked sick. These days, I still keep sketchbooks going, they mostly hold my thoughts as I jot them down messy and quickly in order not to lose them. It’s the idea that I am trying to capture and its funny but the tools are still the same and just as important. These black books prepared me for painting walls and canvases. They prepared me for laying out t-shirt graphics and rock posters. I still look through my old piece books as time capsules to where my head was at in my younger days and compare them with what I am drawing now. I will always value that first book though, it set me onto the path that I am on today.