My Favorite Photo-Based Doodles

Almost a year ago I wrote a blog post sharing some of my favorite iPad doodles incorporating my photography. In the past year, I have created many more doodles, so I am going to share some more of them here. Fair warning: due to the number of before and after sliders I have in this post, I recommend viewing it in your browser if you’re an email subscriber.

For this illustration of my hometown of Saratoga Springs, NY, I traced over many of my own photos I took of landmarks around town. It should be noted that I am not opposed to tracing, as long as it is my own photos, so the work remains entirely my own.
For this doodle of Avenue of the Pines at Saratoga Spa State Park, I drew the scene by hand, based on this photo I took of the scene back in 2020. Click here to order a print of the illustration and click here to order a print of the photo.
For this illustration, I layered a drawing of me on a horse over a reflection of the sky in a puddle that I captured at the Oklahoma Training Track in Saratoga. Click here to order a print of this illustration.
I donated this illustration and poem of retired thoroughbreds Red Down South and Zippy Chippy of Old Friends at Cabin Creek in Greenfield, NY (where I volunteer) to their annual After the Race benefit last August. It’s based on the photo of the two of them grazing. Click here to order a print of the illustration and click here to order a print of the photo (for any Old Friends designs you purchase on here, I donate my profit to the farm).
I based this illustration on a photo of retired thoroughbred and therapy horse Worldly Slew (aka Sonny) getting a pet from his owner Cathy Lamando of Nipper Knolls Equine Center in Granville, NY. This photo is currently on display at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga as part of their annual Photo Finish juried exhibition. Click here to order a print of the photo and click here to order a print of the illustration (I donate my profit to Nipper Knolls).
I had so much fun painstakingly tracing and recreating the Witch House in Salem, MA from this photo I took there last summer. The Witch House is so named because it once belonged to a judge who was responsible for sentencing some of the victims in the Salem Witch Trials, and not, as the name suggests, the home of a witch.
I’m very fond of this illustration, which I used as the cover of the calendar I designed for Old Friends this year. I traced the barn from this photo, and each horse that is depicted in the illustration is based on a photo I took of them (the horses who are smack next to each other are paddock mates. Click here to order a print of the illustration and click here to order a print of the photo.
Although I’ve been to Paris and have photos of the Paris skyline, this photo I took at Epcot just happened to be the composition I was looking for so I used it for this illustration. Don’t tell anyone I cheated!
I based this illustration off a photo of a horse and exercise rider at Saratoga Race Course.
Ever since I bought my Oculus Quest back in November, I’ve been obsessed with the Supernatural workout app. It’s an app where you get transported to beautiful locations to smash targets in virtual reality. I drew a picture of myself using the app. The photo is not one of the actual locations you will see in your workouts on the app, but it fit the general esthetic. It’s a photo I took at Mayo Beach in Wellfleet, MA.
I used a photo I took of myself by the Hudson River in Glens Falls, NY as the basis for this illustration. Also layered behind the sky is an actual photo of a night sky that I took. Click here to order a print of the illustration.
I am in the process of making a portrait of each horse at Old Friends at Cabin Creek. Here is the portrait I made for Zippy Chippy and the photo I based it on. Click here to order a print of the illustration and click here to order a print of the photo.
When I took this photo of Watchem Smokey and Cool N Collective at Old Friends at Cabin Creek, it reminded me of a heart so I made this illustration. Click here to order a print of the illustration.
What’s cool about using photos to create illustrations is that I get to choose what time of day I want it to be. For this illustration based on a photo I took at night in Cannon Beach, OR, I made it into a sunset. Click here to order a print of the illustration and click here to order a print of the photo.
I did the same thing with this illustration based on a photo of Lake Louise. Click here to order a print of the photo.
For this illustration of Monument Valley, I tried to stay true to the original colors of the sunrise in the photo. Click here to order a print of the photo.
For this illustration of Cape Cod, I layered a photo of Nauset Light Beach in Eastham in the background, which I used the smudge tool to blur. Click here to order a print of the illustration and click here to order a print of the photo.
I’ve created quite a few designs based on Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World, but I am quite fond of this silhouette.
Each of the monuments in this Paris map illustration is based on a photo I took. Click here to order a print of this illustration.
Sometimes I like to use a photo as a backdrop to an illustration, such as in this one featuring another photo I took at Nauset Light Beach in Eastham, MA. Click here to order a print of the illustration and click here to order a print of the photo.

To see more of my illustrations, including many that don’t incorporate my photography, be sure to follow me on Instagram. All illustrations in this post © Samantha Decker and may not be reused without permission.

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