That’s classic and timeless advice — and for good reason. Whether you’re drawing or learning to see, it’s all about observation. The hand just follows what the eyes truly understand, not what they assume. Looking at the subject more than the paper trains accuracy and improves proportion naturally.

HighOfLot

BooksAndArticles

When writing, look at what you are trying to describe more than at your words

Scoresby

was just looking at a basics of drawing work book and it gave nearly identical advice for drawing:
the artist should look at the scene or object more than the paper