Drawing is often used as a form of preparatory work to a painting, either in the form of sketches, finished drawings or initial drawings on canvas.
Drawing is also a beautiful art form in itself.
Drawing, however, also has great value in developing painting skills. It can build an awareness of structure, proportion, tone and composition, all of which are essential to successful painting. In the past I have finished a life drawing session and then returned to a painting I was working on and suddenly noticed things about the painting that possibly needed improvement. Both pencil and charcoal drawing have great value, but charcoal is particularly suited to working with tone and can be moved and manipulated in a similar way to paint. It is, so to speak, a kind of 'dry paint'.
I would therefore recommend drawing both as an art form in itself and as a valuable foundation to painting.
