Nicholas Pocock (1740–1821) perhaps has exactly the expression one might expect from a man who had spent part of his life at sea and the rest of it painting naval battles. This portrait was painted around 1810 by Isaac Pocock (1782–1835) which is all rather lovely. As an aside, I’m often impressed by artists from this period who painted naval battles, there’s an awful lot of rigging that must have been a bloody nuisance to paint.
At least here Isaac hasn’t had to deal with ships, storms, cannon smoke and the other elements that are usually involved in naval paintings. As evidence of that, here’s one of his father’s paintings.
I thought that he looked more disapproving close-up, but he was probably exhausted by his naval life and perhaps it’s just a look of being rather weary. Isaac Pocock went on to become a dramatist and author as well as a painter, but he died when not especially old.