Drawings
I do drawings primarily to find and compose paintings. They are an expedient way to explore a composition. Drawing is the beginning of the process. For any painting a number of drawings might be done, often the drawings result in more than one painting. There are many elements of a painting that can be worked out in the drawing stage.
Drawings allow you to focus in on objects in a scene, try different formats, rearrange compositions. When you see the drawing you are seeing how the artist thinks.