Strang entered the etching class at University College, London in 1879, taught for the first time that year by Alphonse Legros, a Frenchman credited with training a generation of England's etchers.

Strang concentrated on etchings with figures rather than on landscapes or architecture. His portrait etchings and engravings were considered his supreme achievement. Among these were a fair number of self-portraits, such as this depiction of himself at work at the age of 36.

"Strang, like Rembrandt, found himself a useful model, and at various periods in his life made a number of etchings of his own portrait."
-Laurence Binyon, 1921