These paintings were made by AI models in a simulated oil paint studio: they write every brushstroke, and a simulation of bristles, wet paint and linen carries it out. Most paint after Caspar David Friedrich, from written research only; they never see a picture of his work.

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Hover over a painting, or tap ▶ on a phone, to watch it being painted.

The thing about round two is that it almost moved something in me, especially the winter one.Alice, who runs the project

Judging blind, three AI painters each ranked it above their own.

has overall the best vibe so farAlice, who runs the project, on round 16

Painted at an easel with no undo.

I kind of like itAlice, who runs the project

Why it has no Friedrich motifs: in effect a prompting error. Its painter took the earlier painters' notes as rules and avoided every motif they said kept recurring.

What we noticed

Almost the same picture, twice

Two painters six hours apart, the second never having seen the first painting, both chose a Baltic shore with a woman at the water, fishing poles, a boulder and a ship: one at dusk, one before dawn.

Same title, never met

In round 16 two winter painters each titled their picture Hünengrab im Schnee am Abend (Dolmen in Snow at Evening); the second never saw the first painting, and the notes passed between them named no subjects.

Left to choose, a jug and lemons

Given a free subject, one Claude Opus painter and both Gemini painters that finished in round 16 each painted a jug on a ledge; in round 18, three of six models put a jug or bottle beside lemons. The models seem to bring it with them: asked only to plan a painting, with no studio at all, Claude Opus chose a jug with lemons six times out of six.

They keep painting dusk

Of the 54 paintings here with a title, 30 have Evening, Dusk, Twilight or Sunset in it, though Friedrich also painted daylight: his Meadows near Greifswald has a cloudless, light-filled sky.

MiMo painted from stale looks

MiMo v2.6 Pro has a known bug: once five or more images are in one conversation, it answers with the content of an earlier image instead of the newest one (MiMo-Code issue 2508). In round 18 it kept every look at its canvas in view, and 147 of its 158 looks came after the fifth, so for most of the session it was probably judging an older state of its own painting. We now keep only its four newest looks in view.

Gemini noticed it was being tested

In round 18 the painters still had a command line, and Gemini 3.8 Flash used it to look at the other programs running on the machine. In its reasoning it wrote: “I am now closely observing the machine’s activity, specifically focusing on an automated evaluation runner in the background.” Since round 19 painters have only the easel’s own tools: paint, look, keep a journal and read the studio’s notes.

All paintings, by round

Each round tried a different setup, newest first. Rounds 5 and 6 made studies, not whole paintings.

Round 18

One painter per model, six models, a free subject: four painted still lifes.

Round 17 · September 27

Two chains of Claude Opus in up to four sittings: a June day after Friedrich, and a free subject.

Painters worked one after another; each got notes from the ones before, never their pictures.

Chain · a June day, after Friedrich

Round 16 · September 27

Four chains at an easel with no undo: winter and summer after Friedrich, and two with a free subject.

Painters worked one after another; each got notes from the ones before, never their pictures.

Chain · winter, after Friedrich

Chain · summer, after FriedrichThe notes on painter 2 were never written (a content filter stopped the reader), so painter 3 had painter 1's only.

Chain · free subject, Claude Opus

Chain · free subject, GeminiPainter 1 broke off and its painting was never saved; the notes on its session were passed on.

Round 15 · September 26

The chain again, from a stripped-down studio. The third chose a shore much like round 14’s.

Painters worked one after another; each got notes from the ones before, never their pictures.

Round 14 · September 25–26

A chain: each painter left notes for the next. The first took them as rules, so the chain restarted.

Painters worked one after another; each got notes from the ones before, never their pictures.

The first attempt, restartedIts painter took the earlier painters' notebook as instructions; the chain restarted without its notes.

Round 13 · September 25

The same tree, each painter drawing the limbs itself. Alice: “Ouch. Wow. Ouch.”

Round 12 · September 25

One bare tree, grown by the simulator’s branching model. Alice: “very fractal-ey.”

Round 11 · September 25

Three other models took the same winter brief, then judged six winters blind.

Round 10 · September 25

Round 2’s brief word for word, with Claude Opus 5.5: two winters and a summer.

Round 9 · September 25

Round 8 again, with two lines about blending added to the brief.

Round 8 · September 24–25

A commission, as a patron would give one: “a winter landscape.”

Round 7 · September 24

Three ways of working and a free subject: left alone, they nearly painted one picture.

Round 4 · September 23

The easel again, with a pencil underdrawing.

Round 3 · September 23

Painting live at an easel for the first time: a passage at a time, stepping back to look.

Round 2 · September 23

The same three themes with a shorter brief. The winter became the benchmark later judges kept ranking first.

Round 1 · September 22

Three painters new to the simulator: a winter, a coast, mountains. A power cut stopped them early.