Paper Pusher

Collectorʼs Focus: Works On Paper

By Michael Clawson

Author Joan Didion once wrote, “Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke you put down you have to go with. Of course you can rewrite, but the original strokes are still there in the texture of the thing.”

She was talking about writing, but she also succinctly boiled down the medium of watercolor, which is a beautiful method of painting, but one that can be punishingly difficult to perfect. For artists, and Didion as well, it all comes down to paper: the intentionality of the artist’s hand, the lightness of their touch, the texture and tooth of the paper, and the mastery of those critical early marks that can never be erased, completely painted over or concealed.

John Marin (1870-1953), Side Slope of Taos Range, New Mexico, 1930, watercolor and charcoal, 13 ¾ x 19 ¾ in.

Works on paper have a robust history in American art that stretches back hundreds of years. Some of the greats were even working in Western art, such as Thomas Moran, whose works on paper had a profound impact on how people then and now perceive natural areas within the American wilderness.

Watercolors, though, are only part of the story when it comes to works on paper within Western art. Other mediums include pastels, various printmaking methods such as etchings and woodblock printing, and also drawing, which can include charcoal, graphite, colored pencils and other mark-making methods.

Legacy Gallery, Them’s-a Bunch ‘a Bronc Stompin’ … Sun Fish’n … Sons-o-Bitches, etching, 9½ x 7 in., by Bob Coronato; Ogden Pleissner (1905-1983), A Long Run, Curtis Pool, watercolor on paper, 19 x 25 in.

Examples shown here include John Marin, whose loosely painted landscapes of the Southwest are modern and beautifully colored; Ogden Pleissner, who painted sporting scenes with such a delicate brush that nearly each color and each stroke can be clearly examined within the composition; and Joel Ostlind, a contemporary printmaker whose etchings reveal his playfulness and creativity within the genre of Western art.

A bounty of artwork awaits collectors who wish to explore the genre further.

Legacy Gallery, Cooling His Heels, charcoal, 20 x 24 in., by Chris Hunt.

Over at Legacy Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the gallery has many artists who work on paper, including Chris Hunt, Bob Coronato and Stan Davis. “I use my work to build a bridge from the past to the present and awaken the senses through vivid realism and bold composition,” Hunt says. “I want the deep tones of my charcoal to convey the feeling of yesteryear, to pull one’s imagination to a place they’ve never been before, to live the story of my subject, and then with a touch of brilliant color in pastel, the viewer is transported to the here and now while still being engrossed in history.”

For Coronato and Davis, both artists have a long history in their respective mediums. They channel Western history into their work, whether it’s rodeos, Native Americans or cowboy subject matter.

Top: Joel Ostlind, A Shore By the Sagebrush Sea, etching with aquatint, ed. 19 of 72, 6 x 7 in. Courtesy Ann Korologos Gallery; Legacy Gallery, Grand Regent of the Golden West, mixed media collage, 43 x 30¼ in., by Stan Davis. Bottom: Darrell Windjack, Through a Glass Brightly, 2023, colored pencil on paper, 15½ x 19½ in.; Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Coyote Dances with a Star, mixed media drawing on 1909 ledger paper, 12 x 15 in., by Julia Arriola (Mescalero/Mayo).

At Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, works on paper are celebrated on the same walls as the oil paintings. “Works on paper are an important component of the Western art world and Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery is proud to display this material in its many forms,” the gallery notes. The venue will be hosting three major events between November and March, and each one will feature works on paper in some form. They are Julia Arriola: Reframing Myth, opening December 12; Billy Schenck: 56 Year Retrospective, opening February 6, 2026; and Thomas Blackshear II – Neon Cowboy Posse: The Ten Most Wanted Plus One, opening March 13, 2026.

Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Gideon McCoy, pencil on paper, 2025, 8¼ x 8¼ in., by Thomas Blackshear II; Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Ride or Rust, 1981, etching on paper, ed. of 50, 12½ x 19½ in., by Billy Schenck.

Another artist who is doing exceptional work on paper is Canadian painter Darrell Windjack, who paints tricky materials in his painting Through a Glass Brightly. “While I enjoy capturing the beauty and majesty of nature in my artwork I am more drawn to manmade urban landscapes with their constructed angles, shapes and perspectives. A comforting routine I have is frequenting coffee shops and cafes at home and during travels,” he says. “This particular artwork is based on a reference photo I captured while sitting at a window seat enjoying a cappuccino on a bustling New York City street. I liked the effect of the light bulb’s clarity against the muted, minimal feel of the background skyscrapers. The scene also called to me as a challenge to practice my round glass-making skills on two-dimensional paper. It was fun to depict the refracted light and reflections in the bulb to further highlight it as the focal point of the composition.” —