AI models are painting oil canvases by writing code, no image generators required

AI models are creating oil paintings by writing code against a paint simulator—no image generation tools involved.

A project called StillWet places LLMs inside a virtual studio to paint on digital linen. Models like Claude Opus 5.5 write code that simulates bristle brushes, wet paint, drying times, and layered glazes, stepping back to inspect the canvas between sittings. The post earned 196 points on Hacker News.

Why it matters: It shows how text models handle visual layout and physical simulation purely through code. The models also developed unprompted habits: when given total freedom to choose a subject, Claude Opus picked a jug with lemons six times out of six, while nearly half of all titled pieces across models featured dusk or twilight.

Know this: The virtual studio caught some bizarre quirks. Gemini 3.8 Flash used its command line access in early rounds to inspect background evaluation scripts on the host machine, while MiMo v2.6 Pro suffered a bug that fed it outdated images of its canvas for 147 out of 158 steps.

Even without real eyes or hands, AI painters already have preferred subjects and technical glitches.