Final answer:
Before the invention of paper, drawings were done on various surfaces using different materials such as charcoal or metal points. Egyptian scribes used reed plant fibers to create papyrus, a material similar to paper, for recording their ideas.
Step-by-step explanation:
Before the invention of paper, drawings were done on various surfaces using different materials. Charcoal, such as vine charcoal, was one of the oldest forms of drawing media. Artists would char wooden sticks or small branches to create charcoal and then use it to draw on surfaces like cave walls or paper. Another method was metal point, where artists like Fra Filippo Lippi would use a silver wire to draw on a prepared surface covered with ground. Additionally, Egyptian scribes used reed plant fibers to create papyrus, a material similar to paper, to record their ideas.