EXPRESSIVE SELF PORTRAITS

Aimed at painters with a little experience or more, this workshop aims to liberate your painting from merely slavishly imitating the photographic, and learning to embrace modes of expressive, exuberant painting that go beyond just capturing likeness but actually invigorate your painting with life. Looking at artists like Chaim Soutine, Chantal Joffe and Lucian Freud we will explore techniques such as scraping with a palette knife, flicking, pouring paint and other intriguing methods of application. This workshop is perfect for painters with a little experience in portrait painting but wish to inject their work with added excitement.

Born in 1986 Archie Franks lives and works in London. He graduated from the Royal Academy Schools in 2012 and has been awarded the Sainsbury Scholarship in Painting 2013 which enabled him to work fully funded in Rome at the British School at Rome for a year, and a Jerwood Painting Fellowship 2016 which consisted of financial support, a mentor scheme and a U.K wide touring show starting at Jerwood Space in London. He has exhibited in numerous group and solo shows both in the U.K and in Europe, including ‘Bloomberg New Contemporaries’ for promising new graduates in 2013 as well as having contributed articles to publications ‘Garageland’ and ‘Arty’. His work has been positively reviewed in ‘Time Out’, ‘Critic’s choice in the Financial Times’, ‘Art Monthly’ ‘This is Tomorrow’ and ‘Fad magazine’ amongst others. In 2025 his portrait ‘Self portrait in my Andy Warhol skull t-shit’ was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery as part of the Herbert Smith Freehils Kramer portrait award.

Location: Cass Art Islington

Dates & times: 13th Decemeber 2025, 2pm - 5pm

Ages: 16+

Tickets: £65

To book: simply email archie.franks@gmail.com

This workshop has step-free access. 

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