A collection of moving graduation illustrations that will bring tears to your eyes. Memorable ideas.
Graduation ceremonies are special moments where feelings of gratitude, farewell, and a new beginning all intersect, aren’t they? Many people are surely looking for moving illustrations that can add color to such important scenes.
Hand-drawn graduation illustrations, with a warm touch that can bring tears to your eyes, come in a variety of expressive styles.
In this article, we’ll introduce plenty of illustration ideas that deepen the emotion of graduation.
You’re sure to find ideas that help convey your feelings in graduation albums, group messages, message cards, and more!
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A collection of moving graduation illustrations that bring tears to your eyes. Memorable ideas (21–30)
hold handsNEW!
When you see an illustration of people holding hands, it really gives a sense of closeness, doesn’t it? It’s perfect for expressing bonds and friendship in a simple way! So for a graduation illustration, let’s depict students holding hands with a dynamic feel.
You could zoom in on a pair holding hands, or show a large group holding hands to express a circle of friendship.
While recalling the time spent with your dearest friends, be sure to create a moving illustration.
Every time you see it, it will surely make you feel encouraged.
Desk and chairNEW!
Desks and chairs are things we use every day in school life, aren’t they? Conversations with friends you had while sitting there, memories of dozing off and getting scolded by the teacher, the changing seasonal scenery seen through the large windows…
Just seeing a desk and chair brings back all sorts of memories.
That’s exactly why they make the perfect motif for a graduation illustration.
Try carefully copying the actual desk and chair you used to capture those memories.
Adding shadows or recreating the doodles on the desktop will make the illustration even more striking.
A collection of moving graduation illustrations that will bring tears to your eyes. Unforgettable ideas (31–40)
A student wiping away tearsNEW!
Leaving the places we’ve grown attached to and saying goodbye to the friends we’ve spent time with.
Life in a new place is exciting, but it’s natural to feel lonely too.
This illustration highlights that sense of loneliness.
A school building and cherry blossoms in the background, and a schoolgirl with tears in her eyes… It’s a heart-wrenching scene, but don’t you also feel a sense of resolve to move forward, as she wipes away her tears? It’s a moving illustration, perfectly suited to the departure that is graduation.
School lunch sceneNEW!
Just like classes, there’s a school lunch period every day.
When you look back, lots of memories come to mind: popular lunch menu items, rock-paper-scissors contests to win the leftover desserts, and the time spent chatting with friends.
Try drawing that memorable scene as a graduation illustration.
It could be a scene of you eating side by side with friends, or even the whole class to capture classic school-lunch moments—it sounds fun either way.
Delicious, enjoyable mealtimes are an essential part of school life.
Be sure to turn it into an illustration full of fond memories.
A road that continues into the distanceNEW!
A road stretching into the distance is both an illustration that connects to the future and, when you look back, invites you to imagine the path behind you.
The road you’ve walked so far, and the road you’ll walk from here on… Isn’t it the perfect motif for a graduation scene? As an illustration, a road alone can feel a bit lonely, so it’s a good idea to draw striking buildings at the end or along the sides, or cherry blossoms that evoke spring.
If you have time, you can get particular and make the road itself brick, too! Express a road that’s uniquely yours.
The way home
@manatsunoshuyaku The Last Walk Home With YouTranslation#illustration#IllustrationTime-lapse#IWantToBeOnTheRecommendationsGraduationSpring#CherryBlossom
♬ Spring Melancholy by Harucha – Grip
This is a lovely illustration that captures a scene as if cutting out a familiar view, a familiar moment.
Using school events or club activities as motifs is great, but how about focusing on the way home, with attention to students’ backs and the background? If you set the background in places everyone has passed through—like the school building or the routes to and from school near the campus—it seems likely to result in a work that evokes empathy and emotion.
Including items that suggest graduation, such as diploma tubes or cherry blossoms, could further enhance the atmosphere.
A student looking up at the school building
This is a beautiful, hope-filled piece that fills the frame with a clear sky and depicts a person gazing at their alma mater from a low angle.
Since they are holding a diploma, it can be inferred that this is after the graduation ceremony.
The design suggests both gratitude and memories of their alma mater, as well as anticipation for the future that’s about to begin, hinted at by the movement of the hair and the cherry blossom petals.
It’s an illustration with a meaningful message, not just cuteness, so please take this opportunity to adapt and make use of it in your own way.