"He sketches faultlessly, his proportions are fully accurate, his works are suitably composed, and his use of color and line is superb." Thus was Roberto Liang described by a critic writing in Spain's Cinco Dias. But oil painter Roberto Liang (Chinese name: Liang Chun-wu) himself says, "Although I have liked drawing and painting from earliest youth, before I went to Spain to study at the age of twenty-five, I had never used charcoal, and had never even seen oil pigments."

Liang was born in Ch'eng-tu, Szechwan province, though his family comes from Shantung province. He grew up in Taiwan, and at the age of twelve participated in an international children's painting contest, taking the second prize. This encouraged his interest in painting, but he didn't think of being a painter for a living. Later, he was admitted to the Dyeing department of a technical college. After class, he constantly copied famous paintings. Even during his military service, he asked friends and relatives to mail him reproductions of masterpieces for his personal study. After the army, he worked in a textile factory as an assistant engineer, but his yearning to study art grew day by day. After a year of work, he applied for a scholarship to study painting in Spain.

When he arrived in Spain, he had practically no knowledge of Spanish. He wanted to attend the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. But he arrived nine months before the school's annual entrance examination. Thus he first went to an art school for an afternoon sketching class, to prepare for the exam.

Liang will never forget his first day in class in Madrid. The teacher saw the new student, and asked a question, but Liang couldn't understand a word. He didn't know what to do. Thanks to a classmate who could speak English interpreting for him, Liang learned that he was supposed to buy some small sheets of drawing paper and some charcoal, to practice drawing plaster of Paris statues, something Liang had never done. The teacher arranged for Liang to sit by himself at the front of the class to draw pictures of statues of half a head, or of a lone hand, or of a nose. The other students were on the other side of the room drawing pictures of a large statue. He felt frustrated, and angrily clutched his charcoal stick to practice. After about half an hour, his teacher came up beside him and saw that his drawing was not bad. The teacher patted his shoulder and said, "Nino, go buy some large sheets, and have the students over there make room for you to practice."

When he took the admission test, Liang became one of 23 people, out of 660 applicants, to enter the Escuela de San Fernando that year.

He lived very frugally in Spain in order to save money to travel to other parts of Europe and view works in museums. After studying art techniques of all kinds and also anatomy, he graduated.

Upon his return to Taiwan, he married his fiancee of two years, and began teaching college courses in Taipei. He also had an exhibit of his work. Everything was going smoothly, but Liang sought greater challenges. He returned to Spain with his wife and child.

Liang had been thinking that his earlier style of surrealist paintings, as much as they had shock value, really had only a temporary effect on the viewer. Liang sought a personal style that would touch the soul of people who saw his paintings. His first two years in Spain, he had no income to speak of; he lived off savings while experimenting with styles.

One day Liang and his wife were in a small town to relax. They saw a pile of ore glistening in the sun, endlessly displaying new colors. Liang says, "I was utterly captivated by the sight, and thought I could merge the scenes of nature with human forms, to seek a beauty arising from their harmony."

His paintings often depict rolling mists, but one can't be sure whether they are really clouds. They also depict spots of light, somewhat resembling the mouth of a cave, but not exactly like the mouth of a cave. The greater share of the human figures in his paintings are looking at the mystical backgrounds, their colors coordinating perfectly, expressing quiet and peacefulness. A Spanish critic comments, "His work doesn't deny reality, but transcends reality, and purifies reality."

And this art, which so appeals to people, does not arise from casual technique. He meticulously pulls his paintings' viewers into another world--a dream world. This pull results from his painstakingly applying layer upon layer of paint, or removing layers, until he gets the ideal color and texture.

Before he paints, Liang mixes honey, animal glue, and egg white and applies the mixture to raw canvas. This both makes paint adhere to the canvas better, and also fills in the spaces in the cloth, in order to make the receptivity of the cloth to paint uniform throughout the piece. When painting he does not scrape off extra paint with a spatula, but uses a cloth to remove it, thus blending in the colors of surrounding areas.

It can take him anywhere from a week to a month to finish a painting, and he sometimes destroys paintings midway through if he feels they are coming out wrong. After finishing, he puts a mixture of rosin and oil-based adhesive on each painting, both to preserve it and to make the colors bright.

Currently he paints every day-light hour six days a week, spending Sundays with his family. He continuously strives toward his ambition of becoming a world-class painter.

[Picture Caption]

1. Roberto Liang's Image of Jade. 2. In June of this year, the Liang family returned to their home in Taipei, and took a picture to remember the occasion. 3. Liang likes to depict women's backs; this work is Ripples.

Liang's works are full of a dreamy beauty. 1. Longed-for Dream. 2. Motherhood. 3. Kindness. 4. Tie.

Subjects with abstract backgrounds. 1. Recollection. 2. Dream of Birth. 3. Untitled work resembling his Consequences of Progress. 4. Red.

2. In June of this year, the Liang family returned to their home in Taipei, and took a picture to remember the occasion.

3. Liang likes to depict women's backs; this work is Ripples.

Liang's works are full of a dreamy beauty. 1. Longed-for Dream.

2. Motherhood.

3. Kindness.

4. Tie.

Subjects with abstract backgrounds. 1. Recollection.

2. Dream of Birth.

3. Untitled work resembling his Consequences of Progress.

4. Red.