His father was an author of children's books, who was compelled to spend much of his time working in countryside under Mao Zedong's Down to the Countryside Movement, kept many banned books hidden away in a black chest under his bed, including Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, tales by Alexander Pushkin, Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Journey to the West and The Water Margin.
Since then, Liu took drawing lessons with Tan once or twice a week for five years, which was a significant period of time when he mastered basic artistic techniques.
At 13, Liu Ye paused studying art temporarily because his left eye was found with amblyopia and the doctor believed that would affect his sense of space as an artist.
In 1986, Liu Ye enrolled in the Mural Painting department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts with an outstanding academic score.
During his time at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Liu Ye often drew comic strips and published them in newspaper for some income.
As the art historian Pi Li says,"The major difference between him and his contemporaries was that he did not go through the period of rage around 1989 [following the Tiananmen Square massacre], nor did his works contain elements of 'collective' images.
[6] Instead of focusing on his Chinese origin, Liu Ye embraces some more universal themes like beauty, feeling and hope in his works.
"[8] By the time Liu Ye went back to China in 1994, his works were deeply influenced by German Expressionism, showing intense personal expression with an overall gloomy tone.
From 2000, Liu ye moved his attention away from himself and started to portray figures he has interest in such as Eileen Chang, Ruan Lingyu, Andersen, Little Mermaid, and so on.
[12] Liu Ye fell in love with the cartoon character created by Dick Bruna immediately after he first saw her while he was living in Amsterdam because he saw himself in the bunny, who is seemingly simple but actually extremely intelligent.
Some paintings depict her engaging in rather simple activities such reading or embarking on a journey while others contain subtle sexual implications.