Tuesday, June 12, 2007

"SCHOOL'S OUT...FOR...EVER!"

Today was my last day of school, not just for the summer, but forever. My 14 years of education finally ended only hours ago. It's great finally not having to carry 50 lb. backpacks, do homework, essays, projects & assignments, wake up at 7:30 each morning sans breakfast & learn stuff I probably won't ever use... but it's sad. I hardly ever see my friends outside the classroom & I may never see a few of them ever again. College is only months away, & all my time is gonna be focused towards that & not my close friends. Oh well.

For the past two days, I've been signing yearbooks. I drew little goodbye doodles for each person; some personal, some less. It's a very pleasing & happy sight, but it's short lived. Recent nostalgia.

As for my teachers, I had something special in store for them: personalized goodbye sketches. But instead of doing dozens of individual sketches, I decided to do group cartoons (One for the Music Dept., Science Dept., English Dept., etc...). I spent a few minutes on each. Here are a few (some are slightly cut-off, my apologies for that):



























I hope you enjoyed them. Have a happy start of summer everyone! Make sure you get some lemonade, a lawnchair & some tunes & bask in the glory that is summer vacation (oh, don't forget the sunblock, or you'll be "baking" in the glory that is summer vacation)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey mike, yeah, it does suck that school's out already. I can't believe it. I just want to see your comic strip someday. Those pictures for the teachers are really good. I'll always ask you for cartooning advice!

Michael J. Ruocco said...

Thanks Denise!

Your last words gave me an idea. I should start a second blog (or use this one)& post beginner drawing lessons. I've been wanting to post videos, but I don't know how. Maybe somebody here can help me out.

thedoreenster said...

my sister (denise) told me to come on here and take a look at your stuff. she raves about it all the time! it's really awesome. you've got lots of talent, but you don't need me to tell you that. i hear you're on the way to SVA. i know lots of people who go there - and have graduated from there. one of my friends does t-shirt design for Changes - he does SNL characters and a lot of pop culture stuff - and the t-shirts are usually sold in Hot Topic and Journeys and those kinda places. if you ever need any SVA advice, feel free to ask! oh, and are you commuting to SVA? it's an awesome area to be in - especially since it's near the shake shack on 23rd, which has the most amazing burgers ever. okay, enough rambling for now.

-doreen

Michael J. Ruocco said...

Doreen! Thanks for the kind words!

I do in fact have a few unanswered questions I'm willing to ask, like if there are any teachers I should avoid, where the best shops/restaurants are in the area (I'll definitely go check out that Shake Shack, sounds good), & what the atmosphere is like there. I went on a tour of "campus", & I liked it very much. If you see some of your SVA friends, tell them to stop by the blog so I can ask them a few questions, if it's possible.

I'm gonna be dorming there & coming home on the weekends (for work & such). I tried getting there by train/car a few times & it's a hassle. Plus money goes pretty fast using the Metro.

Thanks again for the comment. I hope you can check back here & see whats new!

OmegaEye said...

Man those are great. I especially like the one that you did for Detamaso (I probably misspelled his name). That's funny yet so true. School's out for ever! You got to love that fact. Well, good luck at SVA my friend. Keep updating your blog man.

Michael J. Ruocco said...

OmegaEye, thanks again & good luck to you as well!

Detaommaso's drawing was actually the last one I did. I originally had the duck sitting in a cell with a long scraggly beard, chalking one of countless tallies on the wall, but due to timing & layout trouble, I decided to go with the final design, which I believe is a lot better. The exasperation in his eyes says a lot.

Since school's out (forever), I'll have more free time to post here. Make sure to check back once in a while to see what's new. I hope to see you sometime during the summer.

thedoreenster said...

hey mike! awesome meeting you today, but too bad we didn't have more time to talk! :[

anyway, there's always unanswered questions, especially when on the way to college. i will most definitely pass your blog link along to my SVA friends [the ones that have a second away from the drafting table, at least] and hopefully some of them will actually stop by. i'll also try and get some names of teachers to avoid. i do know a few people who were illustration/cartooning majors - but the rest are in film and graphic design mostly.

as for food and stores, you'll have no lack of places to go. there's fast food all over the place (i remember a wendys and a quiznos but they're doing construction there and stuff so maybe there will be more).. there's a 7-11.. and as i said, during the warm months, shake shack is the place to hang out. as for stores, 23rd is a major street so there are plenty of things to do/see and union square is literally just a few blocks down. and well, you can spend an enormous amount of time around there. it's the area i'm always in, anyway.

so, you're gonna dorm there, huh? that's not so bad. i've been to the dorms and the rooms seemed decent. 2 beds and a bathroom, at least that what it seems like on every floor. i just hope you get a rockin' roommate - and beware - if you have guests past 11 pm or so, security gets antsy about it. they want to know everyone who's there "after hours" and that kinda thing.

i've commuted to college and still do (for grad school now).. it's mostly because the dorms at Hunter College are really small .. but the LIRR isn't so bad. it's about $250 for a monthly ticket + unlimited subway.

anyway, i could probably write forever on here. feel free to talk to me whenever - if my sister raves about you, i know you're good people. i'm on AIM all the time (my SN is thedoreenster) and i'm always in the city so who knows, i might see you around!! :]

keep up the awesome work!
-d

Michael J. Ruocco said...

Doreen! I couldn't have asked for more! Thanks for all this precious info, especially that there's a 7-11 nearby (mmmmm...Coca-Cola flavored Slurpees...).

Although I've only known you for less than a week, I really appreciate all you've done. Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

wow i must say.. you're beyond talented. i hope to see some of your work in bigger media with bigger audiences.