Drawing the Mona Lisa with GPT-5.6, Claude, Gemini, and Grok

"Drawing" the Mona Lisa with GPT-5.6, Claude, Gemini, and Grok

We built a drawing arena where GPT-5.6 Sol, Claude Fable 5, Grok 4.5, and Gemini 3.6 Flash used colored pencil tools to recreate the Mona Lisa and Starry Night. While Claude Fable 5 was the most expensive, it often produced worse results than cheaper models. Surprisingly, every model scored lower at the end of a session than at its peak, proving that more reviewing does not guarantee better art.

"In all eight target runs, the final drawing scored below the best the model reached mid-run."