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Broken Communication in an Information Age

I got an email from a stranger in Kansas who googled “pencil drawing of a cabin”. YEA! This brought him to “Cabinart”! He had seen a drawing of the Clover Creek Bridge on my site and then could no longer find it. (Since the site has been rebuilt, I left off some of the older pieces because I don’t like how they look with a watermark across them.)

clovercreek_bridge_1

 

I sent him a mess of pictures of bridges, trying to determine which one he was asking about. (love those bridges) I didn’t even remember this one, and finally he sent me photos of his sketchbook where he copied my drawing.

He didn’t ask my permission to draw from my drawing, but having stuff on the internet means that people can either be ignorant of copyright laws or just ignore them. (Same root word – anyone know Latin to further explain this?)

I didn’t mind, and was happy to help him. It is fun to help people draw better, so I gave him tips for drawing, and then I asked his permission to show you his sketch.

He didn’t respond.

My email? His busy life? An unreasonable request?

This is broken communication in an age of information. . . cell phones, texting, voice mail, email, regular mail, normal telephones. . . and still we lose opportunities, lose clarity, lose focus, and lose our train of thought.

If he replies with permission, I’ll show you his sketch. He did well with proportions before asking my input. I hope that he’ll incorporate my tips and send another photo. It would be fun to show you his before and after.

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