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What are One-Shot Sketchbooks?

A One-Shot sketchbook is single standalone issue, a book produced for necessity and for the pleasure of creating with a limited amount of materials needed. 

My one-shot sketchbooks are made from a single sheet of paper folded like a Zine, personally I prefer the Tomoa River paper because of the lightness (57 g/m) but any relatively light and smooth paper would be fine. The folding technique produces three double spreads and a front/back cover. The sturdiness of the book is really efficient due to the small size and compact folding. 

Why?

The most important question of all is to ask the purpose this concept. Many will say that a sketchbook in itself is a free and creative space, but personally all too often I have fallen into the trap of forcing myself to create a theme that flows through the pages of the book, each rich in aesthetic value. For me art is the continuous search for a line that can describe a concept in the world, and I often found myself feeling limited and burn out, causing many blocks in which I did not draw for weeks.

The reason I want to share this concept is because it has helped me tremendously in my artistic career to detach myself from a style, observe and record the world in its most mundane details, and to love the process of producing art.

There are only six pages in each book, and if you use an A4 sheet, the dimensions are even smaller than an A6. This makes the books very easy to fill and on average I use one every three days. During short trips it allows me to record my memory without feeling obliged to draw much, but without even the fear of not having enough space. I am not afraid to waste sheets or paper and I have no pretensions except to capture as in a photograph a moment. Having one or two separate books for each day or trip makes each one of these special.

How would you feel if one day you could dive back in any day of your choice? We at Ikigai are building memories for the future.