Secretly taking pictures of a stranger in public is considered rude and frowned upon, but drawing a realistic portrait of them and showing it is ok and praiseworthy, amirite?

I suppose one is recreating form with skill and the other can be achieved by anyone at the click of a button. Drawing someone takes time and effort, where as taking a picture requires a fraction of a second with no effort.

Second one you have to ask permission for so it's a completely different scenario. Some people will still call you out if try to draw them fully clothed in public without permission. I only have anecdotes but this kind of thing does happen.

Maybe because a digital image can be used in so many ways and a drawing is just on that piece of paper and it's been drawn. It feels somehow less creepy. Usually someone covertly taking pics of someone, doesn't show them their pics. With a drawing it's somewhat flattering I suppose.

Taking pictures of a random person is creepy because you gain nothing and its up to the person who had a picture taken of them to guess what theyll do with it. Drawing on the other hand is, well, a drawing. You put effort into it and actually gain something obvious (attention for your work)