Valentina Calzolari

Last Summer Days

Last Summer Days is a children's fairy tale book that unites three legends about protected wildflowers. The stories written by Ruthi Yitzhaki Ritcher are accompanied by illustrations and botanical information about the flowers. The book invites the reader to drift into a magical world and be part of the significant moments in the development of the flowers. The book is made up of illustrations of Israeli life and vegetation and at the end of each legend there is a scientific illustration inspired by botanical illustrations along with the book's modern and colorful style. I grew up in Argentina and since I was a child I have been connected to the flora and fauna. I learned that in Israel there is a very large variety of wild flowers, which inspired me to draw the local nature and the vegetation. The techniques I used are ink drawings and digital paintings with textures made by hand methods such as sponges, rollers, fabrics and more.