Atelier V.V. — Techniques — Linocut
Linocut
Original designs by artists and designers, printed on a litho proofing press with Cranfield artist inks. On fine art cotton rag paper or raw kraft. A technique as rare as the result.
PRESS
Litho proofing press
INK
Cranfield · Oil-based
PAPER
Cotton rag · Cellulose · Kraft
The technique
1
Pull at a time
3
papers available
Any
Color, mixed to order
A printmaking technique.
On a press built for lithography.
Used for wallpaper.
Linocut wallpaper is not a standard product. It is a printmaking practice applied at wallpaper scale, and one of a few places in the world doing it.
The design is hand-carved into linoleum, a process that is slow, precise, and entirely manual. Every line, every texture, every area of tone is cut by hand before a single print is pulled. The block carries the full character of the person who made it.
The press is a litho proofing press, originally designed for checking lithographic prints before a full run. We use it for production: feeding paper through one pattern repeat at a time, one pull at a time, each impression examined before the next begins. The machine assists. Everything meaningful is still done by hand.
The result is a surface that carries the depth and character of a fine art print, on a roll that covers a wall. The ink sits on the paper with a richness that no digital process produces. You can see the impression, made by a person. That is the point.
From carved block
to printed wall.
One pull at a time.
How it's made
01
The design
The pattern begins as a drawing, made with the linocut technique in mind. Scale, line weight, and the logic of what can and cannot be carved all shape the design from the start.
03
Inking
Cranfield oil-based ink is rolled onto the lino block with a brayer, evenly, carefully, in the right quantity. Colour is mixed by hand before every session.
02
Carving the block
The design is transferred to linoleum and carved by hand, gouges cutting away the surface to leave the areas that will print. Every detail is cut individually. A complex pattern takes days.
04
A rubber sheet picks up the ink from the block. The sheet transfers the image to the paper cleanly and completely, right-reading, exactly as carved. One pull. One print. The next begins immediately.
The press
Three papers.
Three characters.
The paper is not an afterthought. It changes how the ink reads, how the surface feels, and what the wall ultimately becomes. We offer three, each chosen for what it brings to the linocut specifically. All are available in any ink colour we can mix.
Cotton rag,
laid texture
A mould-made fine art paper with 75% cotton content and a characteristic laid texture, the subtle parallel lines pressed into the paper during manufacture on the cylinder mould. Gelatin-sized on the surface, which means the ink sits on it rather than absorbing into it, giving the linocut exceptional sharpness of line. Warm natural white, deckled edges, watermarked. Lightweight but with real presence. A paper that has been used by printmakers and artists for generations.
Alpha-cellulose,
smooth grain
A high-quality acid-free cellulose paper with a smooth, natural grain and internal and external sizing. FSC certified, lignin-free, made without chlorine. Heavier than the cotton rag paper, with a clean white tone and a consistent surface that takes ink reliably.
Kraft paper,
unbleached
Raw, warm, earthy. The natural brown tone of the kraft becomes part of the composition — the paper itself is part of the design. Ink on kraft reads differently than on white: deeper, more layered, with a warmth that is at once ancient and completely contemporary. The contrast between dark ink and the warm ground gives the linocut a quality closer to a woodcut from a natural history press than a wallpaper from a catalogue. Unexpected in an interior. Unforgettable once seen.
The ink
Cranfield.
Oil-based.
Non-toxic.
We print with Cranfield artist inks, and the choice was deliberate. Quality and non-toxic pigments, in that order.
Cranfield has been making fine art printing inks in England since 1906. Their oil-based inks are richly pigmented, technically consistent, and formulated without the toxic compounds found in many industrial printing inks. For a technique where the printer's hands are in the ink every day, that matters.
The inks are available in a wide range of colours, and we mix every colour by hand for each project. No formula, no digital matching, by eye, to the specific tone the design and paper require.
We can also make our own oil-based inks when needed, linseed oil and pigments, ground and mixed in the atelier. The same pigments we use in the distemper for blockprint. For projects where a specific colour or a specific material logic demands it, that option is there.
Cranfield Colours
Founded in London, 1906. Artist-grade oil-based inks, non-toxic pigments, used by printmakers worldwide.
Non-toxic pigments
The primary reason we chose Cranfield. The printer works with the ink every day. Nothing harmful.London, 1906. Artist-grade oil-based inks, non-toxic pigments, used by printmakers worldwide.
Any colour
Mixed by hand to your specification. Bring us a reference, a fabric, a paint chip, a stone, and we'll mix to match.
Homemade ink
We can also make oil-based ink ourselves, linseed oil and pigments, ground in the atelier. For when the project calls for it.
The designers
Their design.
Our press.
Something neither
could make alone.
The linocut technique is by nature a collaboration. We bring the press, the paper, the ink, and the craft of printing. The designer brings the design, a pattern made with the linocut in mind, shaped by the possibilities and constraints of a hand-carved block.
We work with contemporary artists and designers whose visual practice has a natural conversation with the technique. The design is theirs. The printing is ours. The result belongs to both. Each pattern is a named edition, printed to order, with both names on the roll.
We are always open to the right proposal. If you are a designer or artist and you think your work and our press have something to say to each other — get in touch.
Isabelle is the first designer in the linocut collaboration line.
A pattern made
for you alone.
Every element of the linocut can be specified for your project. Pattern, ink colour, paper choice, all chosen together. For clients who want something entirely their own, we work with our designer collaborators on bespoke patterns: a design tied to a place, a history, or an atmosphere, printed in an edition made exclusively for you.
This is not an upsell. It is what the technique is for.
Custom pattern
Original design made for your brief by one of our designer collaborators
Paper of your choice
Cotton rag, cellulose, or kraft, or a sample of each to decide
Colour to specification
Any ink colour, mixed by hand to match your interior or a specific reference
Edition
Printed in a limited run, exclusively for your project
Practical information
Linocut · Litho proofing press
€300 / roll
Cranfield artist inks · Oil-based · Non-toxic
Printed to order
Cotton rag · Alpha-cellulose · Kraft - Paper
Contemporary artists & designers
Any colour, mixed by hand to order
€5 per sample ·
See it before you decide.
Samples are available on request, a real piece of the paper, printed in the actual technique, in the colour of your choice. We'd rather you held it in your hands than ordered from a screen.