To all the young people currently being snapped in their new uniform as they set off for a new school for the first time today – good luck! ☘️ This painting shows the artist William Dring RA's daughter Melissa, aged about 11, and shows Dring's characteristically perceptive representation of his sitters, painting in a naturalist style that offers an insight into the personality of the subject. Here, the intensity of his young daughter's gaze, her slight smile, and her tidy uniform imply a maturity beyond her years. The plain background is also a common feature of Dring's work from this period, the deep shadow cast by the figure revealing his realist tendencies. Dring painted another portrait of Melissa in the year before his death. This later work (now in the Beercroft Art Gallery, Southend-on-Sea) shows his daughter with the same half-smile and confident eye-contact, reinforcing the idea of the sitter's self-assurity and thoughtfulness, carried into adulthood. William Dring RA, Melissa, ca. 1955. Oil on canvas. 1077 mm x 527 mm x 20 mm. © The Artist's Estate. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: John Hammond. #RoyalAcademy #BackToSchool