But while the image may brighten a wall, it certainly has no monetary value. ''When these images fade, you throw them out. The value is in the pleasure one receives from looking at such an image,'' says Stuart Purves, director of Australian Galleries in Melbourne and Sydney. ''It has about the same value as a calendar offering the same image.''

However, real works on paper, either hand-drawn by the artist, or an etching from a plate later destroyed, provide pleasure as well as a monetary value. Purves cites the etchings of artists such as Rembrandt, Picasso and contemporary artists such as David Hockney as being significant investments.

''You could easily pay €200,000 ($294,700) for a Rembrandt etching,'' says Purves, who is building a separate space in his Collingwood gallery to accommodate works on paper.

While Rembrandts are unlikely to be displayed in the new space, there will be works by Tasmanian printmaker Raymond Arnold and Melbourne-based artist Rosalind Atkins. Also on display will be works on paper from artist Jock Clutterbuck, the subject of a recent book by Australian Galleries and Macmillan Publishers.

''You can still purchase one of Jock's works on paper for around $2500. It's a great investment, along with works by artists such as John Kelly. You often find that those who produce works on paper are also sculptors.''

Many collectors prefer sculpture or paintings on canvas, but according to Purves, ''drawings reveal how art is made. You can appreciate each line. There's a journey you can trace in each work.''

Tom Lowenstein, director of Lowensteins Arts Management in Melbourne and Sydney, has been collecting works on paper since the early 1970s. His wife, Sylvia, initially attracted Lowenstein, an accountant, to art. He established his first gallery, The Collectors Lithograph, in St Kilda with Ray Harari and Mannie Hirsch.

Lowenstein's first purchase of a work on paper was by artist Pro Hart. Now his large collection of art includes leading figures in the Australian art world: Charles Blackman, Brett Whiteley, George Baldessin and Ah Xian. A recent book written on the Lowenstein's Art Management Collection, by Sasha Grishin, titled Accounting for Taste, includes some of these artists.

When Lowenstein and his business partners first started to sell works on paper, the prices were a few hundred dollars. ''Even at that price, the work was difficult to sell. The idea was to attract a younger market who were starting to build an art collection,'' says Lowenstein. Now the same works on paper are valued in the thousands, generally $1000 to $5000.

Works by George Baldessin, on a par with artists such as Whiteley, can easily fetch $3000 on the market today. ''George was exceptional, but unfortunately he died in a car crash in 1978, aged 39,'' says Lowenstein. According to Purves, the number of editions of each work can also have a bearing on the price attached.

Purves singles out artist Arthur Boyd as one to watch out for, with his works on paper selling for between $2000 and $7000.

''You'll see his work heading north in the next few years.''

For Lowenstein, who prefers graphic black-and-white works on paper, rather than colour, his motto is buy what you like. ''If you enjoy colour on your walls, look at the work of Garry Shead. But avoid what I refer to as the facsimile, the thousands of copies produced each year. It's only decoration and you see this work in hotel rooms.''

Among the collection on Lowenstein's office walls are a series of portraits (works on paper) by artist Ah Xian, made circa 2007, who recently exhibited several of his sculptures at the Adelaide Biennale. ''I can't afford the artist's sculpture, now in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But I can still enjoy seeing his work on the wall every time I get out of the lift.''

Grishin, professor of art history at the Australian National University in Canberra, feels art on paper is often difficult to understand. ''For some artists, the work is a preliminary sketch. But for others, such as the late Joy Hester, her art is only on paper.''

Hester's often melancholic portraits from the 1950s now command from $35,000 to $50,000.

Grishin partially explains the delayed increase in prices received for works on paper as Australia's love of traditional oil paintings. In contrast, Europeans didn't have the same prejudice with works on paper. ''Artists from the Heidelberg School, such as Tom McCubbin, directed our attention to huge canvases at the turn of the last century. There's no reason why works on paper shouldn't include some of the finest art, by some of our most talented artists.''