How to Draw a Graduation Cap

It's time for graduation and we have a creative idea for you! In today’s beginner drawing lesson, you can learn how to draw a graduation cap. This clipart is great for use with graduation event-themed projects. You could make matching sublimated t-shirts for the students to wear beneath their graduation gowns on the day!

Do you love drawing and want to work on your skills or just create clipart for fun? Our free drawing tutorials are easy to follow and designed for all skill levels. Even if you are a beginner, these drawing guides are an awesome place to start. Best of all, you can use whatever art supply you have available.

For this tutorial, you will need to get your drawing supplies together. You can use any type of art media such as colored pencils, oil paints, mixed media, or digital drawing apps. During this drawing course, we will be using Procreate along with this ink Procreate brush pack.

Don't forget to check out the huge selection of Graduation Cap clipart available on Design Bundles for more inspiration.

Step 1 - Roughly Sketch your Graduation Cap

For this first step, you will need a sketching medium to make your rough sketches. Choose something that can easily be removed or covered up later on when adding color.

Create the Cap Shape

Let us begin by creating the cap shape. Draw an angled square as we did in our image below. This will give us a tilted top view of our cap.

At the bottom of the tilted square, roughly draw a half-rounded shape for the headpiece (seen in red). Take a look at the image below for some guidance.

Add the Tassel and Details

Using the image below as a visual guide, draw the tassel of your graduation cap. We sketched the tassel so it hangs over the left side of the cap. As you can see, only the top and end of the tassel are visible.

Lastly, add the smaller details to your graduation cap. We added the button that holds the tassel in place and the back seam where you fasten the headpiece.

Step 2 - Outline Your Graduation Cap Sketch

Before we can add color to the cap, we need to outline the rough sketch with a permanent medium. You will want to avoid outlining any overlapping sketch lines that may be visible. So remember to only outline the lines you want to include.

For our graduation cap, we added lines to our tassel to give it a rope effect with added jagged lines at the end. You are welcome to add any extra details you want to have on your drawing.

Step 3 - Outline Your Graduation Cap Sketch

We have reached the final step of this tutorial and can now begin adding color to our sketch. Graduation caps can differ in color according to the school so you can use whatever palette you choose. We added a light gray to the top of the cap and a dark gray to the headpiece and button.

Lastly, using two shades of yellow we colored in our tassel. You could add shading to give it more depth, add texture or pattern Procreate brushes to add a unique style.

Your graduation cap is now complete and ready to match your cap and gown. Surprise everyone with a themed party, and add it as stickers to gifts, invitation cards, or scrapbooks. Create personalized tumblers or mugs to compliment everyone's graduation gear. Your illustration will definitely be a hit and the event one to remember.

Thank you for joining us on this drawing journey and learning how to sketch, outline, and color your very own graduation clipart. We hope you found this tutorial helpful and easy to follow, helping your design library grow even more.