Van Arno was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He was accepted at Otis Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles, and supported himself working as a bouncer at Club Lingerie. By the early '90s, his illustration resume included story-boarding for Robotech, deck designs for Powell Peralta, and box art for Bandai Games, but he found a niche in the music industry, where his illustration and design credits are too numerous to mention.