Lin Liang of Nanhai, Guangzhou served as a court painter in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in which he attained the rank of commander. He probably received his appointment from Emperor Jingtai (reigned 1450-1457) and served for the next two decades. Lin Liang was best known for his paintings of birds, usually in ink alone and set within relatively sparse landscapes that complimented the strength of the birds chosen and the manner in which they were painted.

A handscroll by Lin Liang of numerous pairs of different types of birds set amongst reeds and branches in the National Palace Museum, Beijing is similar to the Dubosc pair of paintings in its utilization of both more detailed brushstrokes for the birds set against expressive xieyi strokes for the surrounding plants (Palace Museum and the Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Paintings of the Ming Dynasty from the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1988, no. 6). As in these examples, Lin Liang created the images with bold, exactly formed brushstrokes generally painted without outlines. Both works are also painted on paper, which is somewhat rare within Lin Liang's oevre. The Tokyo National Museum has a hanging scroll of two commorants standing amidst wind-blown reeds. The subject, composition and brushwork of this painting is similar to that of the other works by the artist mentioned (Suzuki Kei, Chugoku Kaiga Sogo Zuroku: Nippon Bijutsukan hen ("Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings: Japanese Museums, vol. 3), Tokyo, 1982, p. 62, no. JM1-204).