down up design

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Ashland, OR
down up design

Cartoonist and dirt aficionado. Artwork with motocross, mountain bike & other fun designs. Since 1973
(1)

08/28/2026

I’m a little behind the gun on this, only because I got super distracted in July – riding my DRZ, Washougal motocross, rafting, birthday…basically all the fun summer stuff. But I meant to celebrate 50 years of when I worked at Motocross Action Magazine. So here’s the July 1976 issue, which was the first one where I was on the staff. They kind of threw me into the deep end by having me co-write the article and take photos for the Hangtown National. This is the year that Bob Hannah burst onto the scene and beat Marty Smith. This was at the old Plymouth track. I did a couple cartoons for this issue as well. And I wrote a few of the new products blurbs. It was so exciting working for Motocross Action and meeting all the staff members and getting to be a part of it all. The Bazzer was the one who got me the job, any he kind of took me under his wing, showing me the ropes. At this point, I hadn’t gone to any of the test ride sessions yet. I still couldn’t believe I was working for MXA. I was only 19 and had gotten the dream job of the century. Next month, I’ll post the August and September issues. Got any questions? Shoot them my way, for all the behind the scenes dirt.

08/26/2026

Who’s going on a 2+ hour drive? If you’re really bored, you can listen to this. Actually it’s pretty entertaining. We definitely steer away from Moto sometimes, everything from the Brady Bunch to peeing when you wake up. Give it a listen.

https://youtu.be/gCOzfx-UBmM?si=izTtdpyp5dRMgmsr

08/25/2026

As a cartoonist, I have a lot of T-shirts. My artwork has been on tons of shirts, and my customers have been really cool about giving me some. But lately I’ve been getting a little fussy about my T-shirts, especially the fit. Almost all of my life I was a size LG. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten a little bit of a belly, which I can attribute to beer and tacos. I’m not really fat, I’ve just been used to being skinny and scrawny until recently. Swimming laps and working out occasionally with weights has also made my arms bigger. I don’t like going around with T-shirts that have the sleeves too short. I don’t want to look like a gym bro. This is all to say that I finally found myself wearing a size XL. In addition, I did screen printing for over 35 years, so I know T-shirts, sizes, styles, and fabrics. Most T-shirts nowadays come either in the boxy, old-school style like Beefy T’s or Gildans, or the more form-fitting modern cut. I prefer the newer style that stretch and cling your body more. So recently, I attacked my closet and got rid of all the shirts that I didn’t like the fit. I also got rid of T-shirts that had my cartoon artwork on them, but I didn’t particularly like the shirt color. Finally I got rid of any other shirts that didn’t have my designs on them that I just didn’t like anymore or wear. I just couldn’t throw away the ones that had my artwork on them so then I came up with the idea of making it into a quilt. I asked a local friend and it sounded like a lot of work and it was not inexpensive to get done so like most things these days I went on the Internet and found a place that would do it. When I went to get it made, I needed to have 24 different squares, and I only had about 18. I ended up cutting up 6 of my shirts that still fit and had my designs on them. I even had to buy fabric scissors. I gave away or donated all the rest of the shirts that I didn’t want on the quilt because I only wanted the designs that had my artwork. Anyways, to make a long story longer, it ended up costing about $100 for a 4‘ x 6‘ quilt. If it’s something you’re thinking of doing hit me up and I’ll walk you through some of the details and pitfalls. Overall, it was a fairly easy process and I’m pretty happy with the quality.

08/19/2026

When I was a kid, Gary Jones was one of my motocross heroes. He rode a Yamaha, and I worked in a Yamaha shop. When I first started racing, he was the 250 National champion. Gary, and his brother Dwayne, lived just over the hill from us, on the other side of Colima Road in Hacienda Heights. We rode on the same trails. I even saw them both one time when we were doing climbs up Monster Hill. When I started my book, I chose to use an Ammex motorcycle for the letter “A”. Of course it was going to be Gary Jones on it. Gary’s partner Anna wanted one of the books signed, and when I sent it to her, I also sent them the original pencil and ink artwork. Then she asked me to do a custom commission of Gary’s son Justin Jones. I was very honored to do a cartoon of him racing Baja. I really enjoyed doing the background on this, and drawing the helicopter. 🚁 It’s pretty amazing how life comes full circle sometimes. And thank you again Anna for getting all the ABC books for the Grandkids and friends 🙏

08/10/2026

Proud to announce that we’ll have a booth at the Thunderstruck Custom Bikes Inc Show this weekend - Sat., Aug. 15. All profits from the sale of the “Z is for Zundapp” books will be donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Free at Touvelle Tavern. Hope to see you there.

07/31/2026

I just recently finished this custom commission for David Dennis. And yes, I draw all of this by hand. Check out David’s kit - Carrera 98 goggles and Heckel boots, plus to top it off, a raccoon tail for the back of the helmet. He’s Canadian, so I guess that makes me Internationally Famous (an inside joke). I’ve actually done a lot of work for Canadians, so thank you brothers. I’ve also done work for customers in Australia, the UK, Mexico, and Japan.

07/08/2026

2016 - Austin Forkner’s first Pro win. Love the colors in this photo late in the day at Washougal.
photo by Curt Evans

Address

P. O. Box 1243 Ashland
Ashland, OR
97520

Telephone

+15416462024

Website

http://downupdesign.com/

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