In this quarter length portrait, the artist William Dring has depicted Vice-Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser (1888-1981) gazing solemnly out of the picture plane, just to the right hand side of the viewer, not meeting their gaze. His expression is pensive and his hair is greying slightly. Sir Bruce Fraser was awarded an OBE in 1919 and became Vice-Admiral in 1940. He was promoted to Admiral in 1944 and in 1948 he became Admiral of the Fleet. Apart from visible ribbons under his left hand lapel Dring has not drawn attention to the awards bestowed upon Fraser, but rather concentrated on portraying a sense of intelligence, focus and calmness through his expression and gaze. [The portrait's original WAAC number is LD. 2698].

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.