down up design

Preview : Check out what’s on the booth table today! The press proof for my new book, “Z is for Zundapp”. Stay tuned for the availability details.

So much artwork went into this T-shirt design I did for The Legends & Heroes of Motocross Tour. I’m proud to be associated with them and love supporting what they do, bringing motocross history to SX and MX races all across the country. When Pete Noneman first asked me to do the shirt design for Legends & Heroes I just asked him for some general direction of what he wanted. I suggested he look through my previous work and let me know what appealed to him. I didn't know if he wanted an "action shot" of old school racers, or a cartoon of their current display in the pits, or what. He replied back that he liked both the Gerrit Wolsink/Carlsbad USGP cartoon, and the one of Roger De Coster on the line with a Privateer. I had made both retro images into posters from my OG art in the mid-70s. His comment was "that era with the snow fence and track banners is epic. Maybe 3-4 riders in the first turn???" My first thought was 3-4 riders?, I don't think so. Of course I wanted a packed first turn! It all started with a pencil sketch, all on a little 8 1/2 x 11 piece paper. Then I enlarged different sections so I could draw the riders at more of a full size. I traced and inked each rider individually, did the background, and then all the logos and numbers separately as well. (One of my favorite parts are all the little characters in the score tower.) Then, after scanning everything, I put it all together in my graphics art program. This allowed me to have the flexibility of moving pieces around and putting different riders in front of the others. Ten total different brands represented - CZ, Maico, Husqvarna, Ossa, Montesa, Bultaco, Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, and Kawasaki. Be sure to get your own shirt when you’re at the races and visit the Legends & Heroes display. Look for a future feature on this from MotoOption Clothing who did the shirt printing.

Sooooo close to finishing the book. All the drawings are done. All the research is complete. The layout is done. Just tweaking some of the words in the intro and acknowledgments. “Z is for Zundapp” - a ABC dirt bike book is almost finished.

Before I went to Florida, I got an assignment from Mark Vanscourt with 3-T Restoration to do a cartoon as part of a logo. The only problem was I was gonna be in Florida for a full month, but he was fine with that deadline. I drew the bike while I was in Florida. I tried drawing the caricature of him there, but it was so bad I threw it away, and you’ll never get to see it. Ever. Once I put all the elements together, the concept was to have the bike leaning on a barn. I tried a few different versions, and this is the final outcome. Pretty stoked with how it looks. It’s going on the top of an EZ-Up among other things. Thank you for the work Mark! I appreciate it. And thanks for your patience. BTW - I love how the bike cartoon turned out.