A hand coloured etching of a hoverfly - The Footballer, Helophilus pendulus.
The fly’s common name comes from the bold stripy shirt it wears on its back. This particular one landed right in front of me while I was exploring some gorse bushes with my camera on the Isle of Arran. It kindly basked in the sunshine patiently while I took its portrait from several angles, and appeared to live up to its other common name, The Sun Fly. That name, however, is apparently based on a misreading of its scientific genus: Helophilus means “marsh lover” and not “sun lover” (which would be Heliophilus with an extra i in the middle).
Oblivious to such linguistic pedantry itself, The Footballer is widespread and common across Britain and northern Europe. It’s quite large for a hoverfly, and should be easy to spot on sunny days, basking on vegetation or sipping nectar from flowers near to bodies of water.
Artwork details
| Title: | The Footballer |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Medium: | Etching with aquatint and watercolour |
| Paper: | Hahnemühle Etching White 300 gsm |
| Paper size: | 34 x 29 cm |
| Plate size: | 26 x 21 cm |
| Edition size: | 20 |
| Price (unframed): | £200.00 |
