Julius showed his talent for painting when he was still a child. At age four, he started drawing pictures depicting whatever his young eyes saw. In 1979, he was admitted to the Beijing Institute of Arts and Crafts based on his outstanding admission test scores. After four years professional training, his skills for painting and talent for creating art works were substantially enhanced. His graduation painting was selected and published by the China Advertising Art Journal. In 1983, Julius was retained by the China Central Television Station (CCTV) Art Division as an Art Designer. CCTV is the most prestigious national television network in China.

In pursuit of his goal of being a fine artist, he took the most challenging admission competition for the Central Academy of Fine Art, the number one academic institution in fine art in China, and was admitted to the academy as one of the top successful competitors among hundreds of applicants nationwide in 1985. After four years of study in this excellent environment, his painting ability reached an entirely new level. From 1989 to 1993 he created a large number of paintings, including "A Village Surrounded by Rivers", "Ancient Operas", "The Doll", "Fetching Water", "The Dream", etc.. In this period, he developed a new style to incorporate Chinese folk painting composition and classic western color techniques into his paintings. In 1995, Julius Liu was commissioned by Taiwan Guangfu Publishing Company and Taiwan Yushu Publishing Company and painted a large number of figure paintings, including "One Hundred Gods in Chinese Mythology", "One Hundred Emperors in Chinese History", "Fifty Beauties in Ancient China", a total of more than three hundred paintings. In addition, he also created such painting series as "The Story of the Qing Dynasty-Guangxu Emperor Under House Arrest," "Jianzhen's Landmark Journey to Japan," "Three Detectives," which consist of more than one thousand and one hundred pieces published in 28 volumes of figure painting albums by China People's Fine Art Publishing House and other publishing companies. His works received high praise from the public. Among these art works, "The Story of the Qing Dynasty-Guangxu Emperor Under House Arrest" won the "Third National Prize" award. He also created water colors that have been exhibited in "China Water Colors Painting Exhibitions" held in China and Korea. Some of his water colors are collected by Korea art collectors.

Julius Liu's recent works are mostly oil paintings on canvas. He has developed a unique style based on his years of experience in water colors, figure painting and folk art painting styles. He masterfully incorporates western concepts of space and color and Chinese folk's art style of composition into his paintings. The theme of his paintings expresses the pursuit of peace, harmony and happiness of mankind.