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 deeply moving graduation illustrations that bring tears to your eyes. Unforgettable ideas (41–50)
blackboard
This illustration uses a blackboard motif to express the warmth and emotion of school life.
Draw chalk and an eraser within the frame, and write messages that convey gratitude to friends and teachers.
By adding handprints from the whole class or writing names and memorable words, it will become a piece that shares a sense of unity.
If you draw phrases like “Congratulations on your graduation” or “Thank you” in a blackboard style and include students standing in front of it, it will be a heartwarming work to look back on even after graduation.
cute and relaxed illustration
If you want to create a piece with a soft, gentle feel, why not look to “yurukawa” (loose-and-cute) style illustrations for reference? Deform the character to about 2.5 heads tall to give it a cute vibe, and aim for rounded lines for the contours.
Another key point in this style is how you apply color.
Instead of filling areas cleanly with crisp, vivid colors, try coloring in a way that leaves some texture and unevenness, like with colored pencils.
This will help create a relaxed, charming atmosphere!
Handshake
There are plenty of handshake photos and stock images out there, but who is shaking hands with whom is extremely important.
You might have people from different school clubs shake hands, or try a teacher and a student—just searching for the motif can spark exciting ideas.
It could also be nice to have a couple shake hands and wear identical accessories on their wrists.
Hands reflect a person’s way of life.
Pay attention to the details and draw them carefully.
sunrise
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From a sunrise illustration, I feel it evokes images like “a new beginning,” “hope for the future,” and “growing anticipation.” Don’t you think it’s the perfect motif for a graduation anthology filled with the sentiments of graduates setting out on a new path? A sun rising over mountains looks cool on its own, but if you’re concerned it might feel a bit lonely, I recommend pairing it with departure-appropriate motifs like birds in flight or a cherry tree.
An anthology whose cover alone gives you courage—that’s wonderful, isn’t it?
nature
Majestic trees with their roots firmly planted in the earth, grand mountain ranges, rivers that carry life-giving water from headwaters to tributaries, and the clear blue sky that lifts our spirits…
Couldn’t natural landscapes be the perfect motif for graduates brimming with infinite potential? Especially for schools located in nature-rich areas, depicting familiar scenery will make the class anthology all the more memorable.
And if the anthology’s title ties in with nature, it will be an even better match!
Walk toward the light
Many of you may have attended a graduation ceremony filled with a mix of excitement and anxiety.
For graduation illustrations, it’s better to evoke anticipation rather than worry, right? How about depicting hope for what comes next as light, with a composition of walking toward that light? By portraying someone moving forward with their heart full of expectation, you can inspire and energize viewers.
A bird’s-eye, almost aerial composition adds a sense of motion and is highly recommended.
Including long, stretched shadows and softly blurred cherry blossom petals helps make the protagonist stand out.
twilight
Some of you may have memories of walking home from school while gazing at a beautiful sunset.
It might be an everyday scene for the end of classes to overlap with dusk, but illustrations that capture such ordinary moments can move us anew.
Try focusing on the streets you always walked or the twilight on your way home from the graduation ceremony.
The contrast between the orange sunset and the mountains, rivers, and fields is lovely, so it could be nice to add that to your composition.