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.

Warrant-Engineer Stanley Ball was stationed on HMS ‘Black Swan’, which escorted and defended convoys in the Atlantic, the North Sea, and off the coast of North Africa. To become Warrant Engineer required a high standard of education, professionalism, and skill in order to supervise the operation and repair of mechanical and electrical equipment on board. In this portrait Dring has represented Ball standing with his hands on his hips as though weary from hard-work, but with a wise expression on his face.

In 1943 Ball was awarded an MBE for ‘bravery and skill in fighting fires’ when the HMS ‘Black Swan’ helped extinguish a fire on the non-navy ship SS ‘Benedict’.