Search Results: using friend to meet people

I don’t know if I’m old fashioned or whatever but I feel like it’s kind of embarrassing to meet someone on an app especially if it’s socially related like for relationships and friendships? Like for me I’d much rather meet someone organically either through work or school or a hobby or class or through mutual friends or family than through an app.

There's a guy I know online, and I have a weird relationship with him, where I used to be his 'fan', but then we kinda became friends. And now I don't know how to act with him, particularly in this current situation

I'm An art student, currently doing a project all about drawing people, I want to use this guy's photos as one of my references, and I'm not sure if I should ask him first. If he was just a friend I knew personally I'd feel weird not asking him first, but if I was just a fan and he was just some celeb, it would feel weird and unecessary to ask permission

I'll Give a brief summary of our relationship to help out things into context. I've Been following him since 2020, and he followed me back and began talking to me as a friend 5 months ago. We had plans to meet up, him visiting me and then me him, but got cancelled. (He said he still wants last time I asked to but nothing solid anymore) He hasn't talked to me as much since he got in a relationship in January, but still does a little and still follows me.

So yeah, after all that I don't know how familiar I should be acting with him?

Basically, should I ask first, or just go ahead and draw him like I would any other celeb?