Cartoon - Full scale rendering/drawing from which the fresco is to be painted. Tracings of the cartoons are done on transparent paper. The edges of the images are perforated and used to place on top of the fifth layer of damp plaster (the intonaco) to use as a guideline for the finished painting.
Tracings of the cartoon are also used to transfer the drawing onto the "brown" (arriccio) plaster coat for the sinopia.

Post your questions/opinions about cartoons for fresco in this thread.

This detail is from the Cartoon for the Albuquerque Fresco by Ilia Anossov (appr. size of this detail is 4ft/5ft).