Abstract: Shi Tao's painting art can be divided into three periods:"I use my own method", "no establishment of any single artistic doctrine,no rejection of any single artistic doctrine" and "this method that is no method in fact makes up my method". Although the "my own method" proposed in these three periods is different in depth, it is a benign and progressive process. He looked at the relationship between inheritance and innovation dialectically, learning from the ancient and not muddied the ancient, nourishing innovation with traditional classics, learning from the essence of the ancients, and taking "ancient and new" as the goal, this spirit of innovation is very realistic at present.