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.

As with most of his drawings, Dring has inscribed (below the mount) this pastel with details as to the identity or role of the sitter. In this case he has specified that Boy First Class Austin was a ‘Sight-Setter in 5.25 turret, King George V’ As a sight-setter Boy First Class, or Able Seaman, Austin, was responsible for helping to make sure the guns were accurately aimed at their target. The 5.25 caliber guns were among the most popular in the Royal Navy during World War II. As dual-purpose guns, they saved weight for battleships such as the ‘King George V’ as it meant they did not have to carry heavy ant-aircraft weaponry as well as standard naval guns.

Sight-Setters were usually among the youngest members of the crew, and the way Dring has handled the pastels in this portrait evokes the sitter’s youthful vitality despite the responsibility of his job.