Sketch

A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not intended as a finished work, often consisting of a multitude of overlapping lines. Sketches usually serve quickly to record ideas for later use. Sketches are inexpensive and allow the artist to try out different ideas before committing to an expensive and time consuming painting or fresco. Sketching sharpens an artist's ability to focus and has often been a prescribed part of artistic development for student and professional alike.
Dry media such as pencil or pastel are often preferred due to time constraints. Graphite pencils being a relatively new invention, the artists of the Renaissance made sketches using a silver stylus on specially prepared paper (known as silverpoint), with results similar to a modern pencil sketch, or used charcoal, chalk, or pen-and-ink.