Liao in fact started out in a "direct" art form, oil painting, in Taiwan at first and later in Japan, and it was only after he went to Paris that he found his own personal style and medium.
版畫，與其它繪畫不同，是透過製版過程印製而得，屬「間接藝術」，而非直接描繪於畫布上。廖修平在師大、日本學的主要是油畫，他決定舍油畫而專事版畫，建立自己的風格，是離開日本到巴黎之後的事。