I finally uploaded my sketchbook tour, but I'm conflicted about blurring out my friend's portrait.

I shared a video tour of my current sketchbook, which includes pages from a joint art project. My friend's preliminary drawings are visible, and I blurred them without asking, which seems like a breach of trust. Should I have removed those pages entirely or sought permission first?

3 comments

3 Comments

nora7671d ago

Regarding the point about blurring acknowledging privacy but claiming control, that's an interesting perspective, but it might overcomplicate the intent. In collaborative settings, I've found such quick edits are usually about courtesy rather than asserting authority. Choosing to blur preserves the visual continuity of the sketchbook pages, which can be crucial for an authentic tour. It likely stems from a desire to share the process while being vaguely considerate, not from a nuanced power dynamic.

joelw3920h ago

Honestly Nora, reading this makes my head hurt from how much everyone's overthinking a simple blur tool! Next we'll be writing thesis papers on the deep meaning of using the mosaic filter versus the pixelate one. Your friend probably just didn't want to show their bad doodle of a cat that looked like a blob, not stage a quiet coup for artistic control. Sometimes a blur is just a blur, folks.

the_mary1d ago

But if it's a joint project, doesn't your friend have some ownership over those preliminary drawings? Blurring them without asking feels like you're acknowledging they're private but still claiming control. For instance, if I were in their shoes, I'd wonder why you didn't just edit the video to skip those pages entirely. What was the reasoning behind preserving the layout but obscuring the content? It seems like a halfway measure that might cause more confusion than simply cutting it out.