It wasn’t until the 1980s that Chiu Ya-tsai began creating art as a profession by capturing and portraying the human figure while leaving traces of his own subjective interpretations in the emotional context. To him, paint brush and writing pen were the two indispensable things in life. As such, he painted like a storyteller illustrating the scenery of life while filling pages with the life stories from his era.

Among Chiu Ya-tsai’s accounts of life, many stories encompassed the ordinary lives of common people as well as those of the many friends he had made in both the art and literary worlds, and these sources of inspiration had in turn become blended and amalgamated with his profound experiences of the past. Though well read, he did not flaunt his words, and his paintings are never just of much form and little substance; these traits gave his works a touch of warmth and sincerity that moves viewers by responding to and echoing their personal experiences of life. In the 90s, a point in time nearing the mid-late stages of Chiu Ya-tsai’s creative career, it was apparent that a shift had occurred to his style and use of colors. Most of the subjects in his creations from this period were dressed fashionably; the silhouettes of his figures had also become more fluid. Though not quite as tinged with the bittersweet vicissitudes of life, these artworks have become more poetic in nature. In “Youth with a Red Scarf,” created in 1998, the influence of literati portraits from the Song dynasty is clearly visible; from the thin lines composing the face to the delicately drawn features, the painting is imbued with a bright, refreshing texture in distinct contrast with the dark, depressive temperament of his earlier works. Unique yet mysterious, thus was engendered the elegant, artistic style of a true literati who naturally shies away from clichés and conventions.