Do It with Your Eyes Closed

The Bangles start off their song "Eternal Flame" singing, "Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling. Do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand?"

 

Now, why in the world would I bring this up, and how is it related to art? Well, it all lies in the purpose of the singer telling the focus of her affection to close his eyes — heightened senses. When you remove one of your senses from the equation, your other senses jump into action to make up for the loss.

 

This is important because it is a simple technique we can use to enhance our practice. Side note: if you're swapping between brushes or changing settings, then you may need to open your eyes to find the right button/bar. However, if you keep everything the same and let's say you draw a nose or an eye with just a graphite or charcoal brush. Can you do it with your eyes closed? Can you keep yourself oriented on the page canvas just be feel and muscle memory?

 

This is where closing your eyes comes into play. The aspects of art we do repetitively or need to have in our toolbelts before we move on to painting a complex painting need to be so simple to us that we can do them with our eyes closed.

 

#CreativeHeart