This portrait represents Commander A.E.T Christie seated and leaning forwards, resting his elbows on his knees and interlocking his fingers. He is shown in three quarter profile and appears to be concentrating on something beyond the composition, past the left hand side of the picture plane. He is dressed in the Navy’s summer uniform consisting of white shorts and a white shirt. He is seated on the deck of a ship and the sky behind him is a vibrant blue. He has a full beard, dark brown hair, and brown eyes. The drawing is still mounted and framed as it was by the War Artists Advisory Committee. [The original WAAC number is LD. 3216].

William Dring (1904-90) earned his reputation as a fine draughtsman and portrait painter whilst studying under Henry Tonks at the Slade School of Art between 1922 and 1925. He worked as a teacher of drawing and painting at the Southampton School of Art until 1940 when he was employed by the War Artist Advisory Committee, first as official war artist to the Admiralty and later to the Air Ministry. He made a large number of portrait drawings of individuals and groups, all remarkable for their informality. Dring travelled extensively to complete his commissions. The drawing is always precise and carefully modelled using pastel, a medium in which he specialised, and which allowed him to capture the likeness and spirit of his subjects quickly and under a variety of circumstances.