A half-length portrait with his head slightly to the right and body slightly to the left, in a boy volunteer's black stock and white collar. Tindal is shown fresh-faced and with his fair hair cut fairly short, presumably at the very start of his career in the Royal Navy. Sea and sky – the latter curiously painted – form almost the whole of the background of the painting. There is a cutter in the distance on the left – typically a vessel in which such boys gained early experience – and white cliffs on the right, possibly those around Dover which are symbolic of England. The painting was probably executed in 1825, the year the sitter joined the Navy. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1832. In 1836 he was in the sloop 'Vestal' on the North American station and later the sloop 'Calliope' on the South American station.