A child whose eyes sprout dragonfly wings; two men in raincoats walking together in a downpour, their heads the thunderclouds that cause the rain; a scissor blade that morphs into a jawbone. These playful black-and-white ink drawings from Instagram’s @Dailydoodlegram are part of an ongoing illustration project that delights as well as provides insight on the millions of photos that are the backdrop of our lives on social media.

Dailydoodlegram is the brainchild of Tel Aviv illustrator Geffen Refaeli, 31, who began the project in May 2012 as a drawing experiment. Refaeli, a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and of Design in Jerusalem, decided to create small pieces of art using elements from photographs on Instagram and post the results every day. For
example, a drawing of an accordion player with the neck and head of a crane was inspired by a photo of the bird and a picture of a street musician.

Today, Refaeli has more than 90,000 followers, many of whom clamor to get her to use their photos in her drawings, as well as an exhibit through June 4 at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, “DAILYDOODLEGRAM, From Instagram to the Museum and Back.” The exhibit includes a series of drawings inspired by objects and images in the museum’s collection that will also be posted on Instagram. Refaeli also sells prints and T-shirts with her drawings at Dailydoodleshop.

For her many followers, who look forward to Refaeli’s daily dose of whimsy,  her images serve as visual metaphors. In the thundercloud men, you can see two friends supporting each other through shared sorrows. In the drawing of a young man vaulting over a startled leopard, a warning to look before you leap. Or, perhaps, it symbolizes the opposite—an image that certainly applies to Refaeli—you never know how far you can go or what hurdles you can overcome unless you first take that leap.