This half-length portrait depicts Lieutenant Chapman standing at the foot of a ladder in what appears to be the control room of HMS ‘Torbay’, a T-Class submarine. The figure of Chapman fills the entire length of the picture plane but only half the width, elongating Chapman’s already gaunt features and emphasising his somewhat melancholy expression. His torso is angled slightly away from the viewer towards the left, and his eyes are cast downwards as though deep in thought. His rank as a lieutenant is indicated by the embroidered pattern on the cuffs of his sleeves. The drawing is signed and dated by the artist and is still in the original mount and frame from the War Artist’s Advisory Committee. [The original WAAC number is LD. 2472].

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.