It's not unusual for me to draw or paint with my eyes closed when im working from imagination. Sounds a bit mad, doesn't it? But it's essential sometimes. With eyes closed, you can feel more clearly a shape or direction or emotion you want to express. My sketchbook is full of these odd messy explorations. You can try a thought experiment easily: imagine writing an angry note or attempting to write whilst sobbing. The handwriting will be quite different. Closing eyes is a way of cutting out the rational critical thought element and making marks more directly aligned with feeling and emotion. It's liberating and productive which is good enough reason to do it!
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