This portrait depicts Commander McKillop on the deck of a ship, resting his arms on a piece of equipment, his fingers interlocked. Behind him the sky and the sea are both a vivid blue colour. His face is ashen and he is gazing into the middle distance as though deep in thought. He is wearing a cap which is decorated with the commander’s insignia on the peak, but the rest of his uniform is hidden under a bulky navy coat. During 1943 McKillop held command of two navy Destroyers, HMS ‘Arrow’ until March and HMS ‘Hotspur’ from June. The portrait is signed and dated, and is still in the original mount and frame from the War Artists Advisory Committee. [The original WAAC number is LD. 3224].

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.