BLACK VEIL BRIDES "FROM KNIVES AND PENS TO A LEGACY"

The completed From Knives and Pens to a Legacy

     In late December of 2014, I began to conceive a new and ambitious project inspired by and for the renowned rock band the Black Veil Brides, as well as their ever-devoted fan base - the BVB Army. At the time, I had absolutely no idea how life-encompassing the artwork would become, nor the magnitude of the reception it would generate over the course of it's creation.

     The completion of From Knives and Pens to a Legacy finally came, nearly four years later in September of 2018. Four years of my life, (more or less the majority of my creative time), was dedicated to researching, developing, sketching, painting, networking and advertising, what would eventually become the ultimate tribute art to one of today's most beloved acts in rock.  It's finish marked an end to what felt like an era, touching off a wide range of emotions that, to this day I still feel with the same intensity almost a year ago.

    While on one hand I was ecstatic to finally step back and realize the art in it's entirety, I was also deeply melancholy. I was leaving behind, with no further need nor desire for embellishment, an intense relationship with what I considered (and still do), my greatest artistic achievement to date.  Without want to be over-dramatic, creating From Knives and Pens to a Legacy was, in all honesty, a monumental effort. And while I contemplated how many more stories this art could have continued to tell through it's details, homages and Easter eggs,  I simply had to be able to say... STOP.

   Throughout From Knives and Pens to a Legacy's course were numerous stalls for reasons both personal and professional, some that spanned weeks into months.  There were other all-consuming projects and diversions. Those of note: A project labeled The One True Harley Quinn created for Ash Costello, which took well over a year on it's own to complete. A satirical piece titled Ronnie Wants You! - created for Ronnie Radke and Falling In Reverse. An album cover contest entry for Motionless in White's Graveyard Shift. And finally, my first actual album cover created for Jacky Vincent's Life Imitating Art. All told each and every piece took incredible amounts of imagination, energy and dedication - and so, amidst From Knives and Pens to a Legacy, which sometimes forged and other times dragged endlessly on, I persisted.

     It seems looking back, even to others, that these works just occurred easily.  They did not. Often I advise and console other creatives, especially those with grand compositions in mind and meticulous techniques to get them there, that the creative block, while dreadful, is a natural occurrence and necessary to the process as a whole.  I went through many of these creative blocks on From Knives and Pens to a Legacy, some so intense the mere thought of sitting down to it made me nauseous. During some very long spans, I couldn't even bring myself to approach the art let alone paint a simple stroke. The cure to this ill came in two parts.

    The first and greatest benefactor to completing From Knives and Pens to a Legacy was sharing my progress of the piece on social media platforms.  That progress was always exciting to reveal, since many parts of the massive collage, adorned with details (some obvious, others subtle), could be completely independent works, telling a story entirely on their own. This technique - creating a portion of the art that stood on its own in order to share with fans, was a way of feeling accomplished for a short period of time until inspiration and imagination reignited to continue forward.

   Originally, From Knives & Pens to a Legacy's concept was rather modest.  I wanted to create a piece that featured the entire band in the midst of a live performance. The thought was, that opposed to the vertical oriented portraits of BVB, I would do this piece as a landscape, allowing a wider, panoramic perspective, much like an actual stage would.  This, of course, changed rather quickly.

Fallen Angels; these guardians of Ash, Jinxx and Jake.

  If you've read a prior article on my site, CREATING THE BLACK VEIL BRIDES BVB ARMY ARTWORK, you would have discovered the intent behind the conception of this piece as well as what inspired it. In that article, I mentioned the incredible experience of 2014. A gift to my wife Gayle spawned the creation of portrait collages for each of the band's members. We were honored to present and gift the art to BVB prior to a show on our Anniversary at The House of Blues, Walt Disney World. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience!

  And yet, throughout that year and continuing through to present day, one of the most satisfying experiences was and is, my introduction to so many good and passionate people that took real honest to goodness interest in my work of The Black Veil Brides.

  While I will not recount the details covered in that previous article, I would like to take some time to pay homage to those people - offering my heartfelt thanks to YOU - my extended family, friends and supporters... the entire BVB ARMY.


                                                                    • FOR THE BVB ARMY •

  I assume anyone reading this knows what the BVB Army is, but allow me to reflect from my own perspective.  Imagine the most intensely, loyal collection of fans you'll find anywhere and multiply that by the thousands and you're only coming close to what the BVB Army is.  The Army, millions strong, is an eclectic collection of all sorts of people - of all different ages, from all different walks of life. What is truly inspiring about their makeup is twofold.

BVB dedication to Chris Holley is one of several. 

  Many younger fans have been introduced and inspired by this genre of music through The Black Veil Brides - who can be explained as a band having one foot planted firmly in the alternative rock (insert sub-category here) scene of today while the other rests comfortably in the nostalgic glam and thrash metal scene of yesterday. The latter attracts the more mature fans - that number far more than you might think - to a group that made an indelible impact into re-introducing image and presentation, searing riffs, screaming solos, crushing dual-base beats and melodic, memorable choruses back into the current rock scene.

  In the midst of creating From Knives and Pens to a Legacy, I felt an overwhelming sense that I had to honor this fanbase in some special way. As the piece developed, I had planned for a fan section, albeit a traditional crowd, which naturally, would be turned toward the action and away from the viewer.  This didn't truly solve the issue and while I did create the foreground pit crowd, with plenty of homages, it wasn't as personal a dedication as I had envisioned.



                                                                      • ENTER THE "VIPs" •

  Then something struck me that would change the trajectory of the art completely. However, considering the idea meant adding months of work and asking for a level of collaboration that would require fans - the BVB Army, to be directly involved.  I thought it might be a really awesome touch if many of the people that supported me throughout this endeavor as well as BVB family and VIPs could in some way be included in the art.  That was when the "backstage" idea took flight.

   I thought, how cool might it be, if I could make it seem like there was a special VIP section backstage, where a collection of ACTUAL BVB Army - the fans themselves, could express their love for the band, while I expressed my gratitude back for their support and love for my work!  Logistically, it would be a real challenge.

The Biersacks, the Pitts, and the Ceras together in the VIP section.

  The first of which was... who should I include?  Sure, there were many I already had a spot for, the "BVB Brass" - the families and partners of the band members themselves, but how about making the majority of this section just for the fans?

   Then something else dawned on me. What if I began a series of contests in order to randomly pick BVB Army members to be included in the artwork?  This would make the selection of those lucky enough to win a spot, fair! Surely I could only include handfuls of the millions-strong, however, those that entered would all get an opportunity to be in this VIP section, cheering on their beloved Black Veil Brides, just as if they were at the actual "show"!


I knew I was on to a really great idea, one that would involve and invite so many more people along on this journey I had chosen to take.  Still, the idea of illustrating and rendering dozens more faces and somehow creating them to look like they were at the show was going to be daunting. And quite frankly, it was, yet all the more worth the entire endeavor "In the End"!

  Upon the first call for contestants, I knew this was going to be an undertaking all onto it's own.  Hundreds of fans entered as over a dozen individual contests were run for BVB Army members to join the VIP section.  With each announcement of winners, several were chosen. The response was overwhelming and ecstatic.  It transformed creating From Knives and Pens to a Legacy from a personal project into an ACTUAL fan-inspired event!


  Each winner would be asked to pose with their BVB gear on, acting as if they were cheering or looking generally pleased to be at this once in a lifetime BVB "show."  This was of course, another huge challenge.  Not only was I, essentially a stranger asking other strangers to send me photos of themselves, but I would also need to faithfully recreate their likenesses from, at times, low resolution selfies where many had a hard time pretending to act excited.  This was not easy to say the least and at times, I went through several revisions to recreate the likenesses enough to please the winners!



All told, the VIP section includes fourty-two portraits, and one of a very special pup. The addition extended From Knives and Pens to a Legacy by nearly four months! Within the backstage crowd, thirteen members are front row VIP, including the Biersack family, the Pitts family, the Cera Family, Mama Jinxx, Moggy Katz and Anna Sherman with the late, great Callie Coma.

All of the participants were so entirely gracious and appreciative for the opportunity to appear on From Knives and Pens to a Legacy and were I able to have found more room I may have considered adding to the VIP section. With some, I had the opportunity to share personal stories, especially their love for the Black Veil Brides and the work I was doing. It was an incredibly special moment in time, where I knew that my creative abilities were speaking directly to so many. I wouldn't trade the experience in a million years, and I thank, from the bottom of my heart, each and every one of you who attended the greatest Black Veil Brides show ever - From Knives and Pens to a Legacy!