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.

For his official commissions for the Admiralty, Dring did not only represent highly ranked officers. The majority of a ship’s crew was made up of able seamen, who would be responsible for basic maintenance and handling the day-to-day running of the ship, both above and below deck. As an Able Seaman, Augustus William Armishaw (1908-79) received the Distinguished Service Medal whilst serving on HMS ‘Sunfish’, a medal which was awarded for bravery and resourcefulness on active service at sea and whilst under fire. In April 1940 alone the ‘Sunfish’ torpedoed and sank or damaged four German vessels. By 1942 Armishaw had been promoted up a rank and was serving as Leading Seaman on the HMS ‘Torbay’ when he gained a Bar (the award being bestowed a second time) to his DSM. By the time of this portrait, he had been made Petty Officer, a supervisory non-commissioned role, ranking between naval officers and enlisted sailors.

This portrait is an excellent example of the way that Dring skilfully and sympathetically represented the personality and spirit of his sitters. The full length portrait depicts Armishaw at work on HMS Torbay, standing tall and boldly facing the viewer straight on, proud to represent the Navy and of the role he is playing in the war. Uniform and deck are seen almost blending into each other, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between man and machine.

This pastel was no. 54 in the War Artists exhibition at the National Gallery (and touring), as LD2399, Petty Officer A.W. Armishaw, 2nd Coxwain, HMS Torbay, 'Letting go the Anchor'.