This... is my mastapiece. This is the one that they'll rememba me for.

August 21, 2023 2:20 PM

Clone-a Lisa: Can you paint a copy of the Mona Lisa in 60 seconds? "Anything over 80% is good, 85%+ very good, and 90% may be possible if you're extremely fast and accurate." [via mefi projects]

Behind-the-scenes Mastodon thread

Prior art

Also prior art

Get on my level

Git gud

posted by Rhaomi (67 comments total)

What hath Abehammerb wrought? Nothing good, I assure you.

This if fun!
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:28 PM on August 21

Good lord. 54% and I’m lucky to have it, I think…
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:30 PM on August 21

Note that playing this game carries the Legal Obligation to post your result in the thread.
posted by Rhaomi at 2:33 PM on August 21

Nailed it
posted by zompist at 2:35 PM on August 21 [14 favorites]

Most important tip: get lots of paint down! All of the Mona Lisa is darker than the initial white state.
posted by malevolent at 2:35 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

Mona Lisa Overwrite
posted by chavenet at 2:47 PM on August 21 [11 favorites]

I love it and want a tshirt.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:48 PM on August 21 [3 favorites]

I'm going to have some toast while we all consider this

(orange marmalade on one slice, peanut butter on the other)

That's a 76% Mona Lisa at the very least!
posted by chavenet at 2:48 PM on August 21

67%
posted by joeyh at 2:52 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

97%
posted by criticalyeast at 2:54 PM on August 21 [48 favorites]

Haha. That was fun.

Given I have no aptitude for drawing or painting and the like, the 27.8% it gave me seems generous.

(I’d link, but that falls into the category of “and the like.”)
posted by notyou at 3:09 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

66.8%
posted by brundlefly at 3:12 PM on August 21 [3 favorites]

"Prior Art" is a great name for this app : )
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 3:17 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

Am I missing something, or is there really no way to either compare or switch between my masterpiece and the original?
posted by Hatashran at 3:25 PM on August 21

56.7%
posted by chrominance at 3:27 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

> is there really no way to either compare or switch between my masterpiece and the original?

they're the same picture
posted by glonous keming at 3:40 PM on August 21 [10 favorites]

"Am I missing something, or is there really no way to either compare or switch between my masterpiece and the original?"

Tomorrow I'll try making one of the end screens fade between the original & your pic, or possibly offer a slider.
posted by malevolent at 3:42 PM on August 21 [5 favorites]

You can see the original by pressing the icon at the top while you're painting.

You can do pretty well by covering the bottom 85% or so completely with the darkest colour.
posted by lookoutbelow at 3:44 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

A naive Rothko approach gets 70.2% .
posted by surlyben at 3:45 PM on August 21 [7 favorites]

Tomorrow I'll try making one of the end screens fade between the original & your pic, or possibly offer a slider.

NOOOO! The joy is in having to remember and then making an abomination.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:54 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

99%
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:16 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

58%
posted by clavdivs at 4:28 PM on August 21 [4 favorites]

This is delightful! I also appreciate the technical details!

Pony request -- I know we're posting attempts in this thread, but it would be amazing to have a gallery on the site. Again, very much a pony request. This is awesome as is!
posted by treepour at 4:51 PM on August 21

55.3%. I think I very much captured the enigmatic smile as well as the rich landscape behind her
posted by treepour at 4:59 PM on August 21 [6 favorites]

58.1%. Thanks, art school education!
posted by May Kasahara at 5:21 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

you came up with the name first didn't you
posted by glonous keming at 5:32 PM on August 21 [3 favorites]

On a related note, I saw a Mona Lisa this weekend in the county fair, except it had been turned into Snoop Dogg and was made out of Diamond Dots.

My computer is refusing to upload pics or I'd share this, but it's certainly....something.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:48 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

At least one mefite has done it faster.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:14 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

i thought of one:

Gauguin In Sixty Seconds
posted by glonous keming at 6:25 PM on August 21 [8 favorites]

59.7% I can't draw a straight line with a ruler.
posted by Grumpy old geek at 6:42 PM on August 21

Every every every every everyone draws a stupid smiley face on it. I am everyone. I laughed for 10 minutes. My wife called me an idiot (on par) and then drew nearly a pixel accurate version of my smiley face.

:)
posted by chasles at 6:55 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

50%
posted by jazon at 6:58 PM on August 21 [3 favorites]

I am getting so much unexpected joy from this thread.
posted by heyho at 7:02 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

70%
posted by flug at 7:22 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

I love this!!!

77.5%!

I dunno maybe she looks better with a less elusive smile.
posted by Mchelly at 7:30 PM on August 21 [3 favorites]

Fauxna Lisa, Fauxna Lisa
They have named you
You're so unlike
The lady with the mystic smile
Is it only 'cause you're homely
they have blamed you?
For that Fuaxna Lisa
Shruggie in your smile?
posted by y2karl at 7:36 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

75.3%. You need to think like a computer, not a human.
posted by Superilla at 8:30 PM on August 21 [8 favorites]

I was able to get as high as 39.6% but honestly I think the 23.6% is the better attempt.
posted by thivaia at 8:56 PM on August 21 [4 favorites]

For the love of god, man, give us 90 seconds at least
posted by gottabefunky at 9:34 PM on August 21

Not sure I've really captured her essence
posted by flabdablet at 11:45 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

Nice.
posted by fnerg at 11:50 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

73%

This is fun!
posted by Zumbador at 1:17 AM on August 22 [4 favorites]

80.1% (after a good bit of trial and error). Really fun to play hotter-or-colder with the accuracy readout in the upper right corner.
posted by tabbyMage at 1:37 AM on August 22 [2 favorites]

I feel like I’m not getting enough credit for including the blue water in the background and the bits of red.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:24 AM on August 22 [4 favorites]

This is really fun and funny. Thank you for sharing. Just what I needed!
posted by ellerhodes at 6:02 AM on August 22

64.5%
posted by crocomancer at 6:42 AM on August 22 [3 favorites]

I only got to 23%, but I could do better if it was cake.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:46 AM on August 22

Looking forward to malevolent doing a wisdom-of-crowds-style averaging of all the results and getting something akin to this.
posted by Rhaomi at 8:01 AM on August 22 [3 favorites]

I didn't save my results but I think I got something like five per cent. My mistake? Not painting but actually drawing/sketching/outlining the figure (or an approximation thereof). So don't do that if you want a better score.
posted by sardonyx at 8:12 AM on August 22

As promised, I've added a comparison slider to one of the end screens.
You can also use keyboard controls: 1-8 for colours, QWE brushes, SPACE to toggle original.
posted by malevolent at 8:15 AM on August 22 [4 favorites]

26.3%, but I think it has charm
posted by xorry at 8:46 AM on August 22 [2 favorites]

malevolent, I have to ask... did you think of the basic concept first, or the name?
posted by aubilenon at 9:28 AM on August 22

(the name is soooo good is why I'm asking)
posted by aubilenon at 9:30 AM on August 22 [1 favorite]

"malevolent, I have to ask... did you think of the basic concept first, or the name?"

The concept is one I've kicked around for years, including a rough idea of how the scoring could work. On Twitter & Mastodon I asked for name suggestions and someone replied with that one.
posted by malevolent at 10:40 AM on August 22 [2 favorites]

Jonah Warren's Sloppy Forgeries is relevant prior art as well! Similar gameplay, but two-player head-to-head - sadly not available publicly (dunno if it ever will be) but it's great fun at events.
posted by severalbees at 10:48 AM on August 22

I forgot to save but it was 49.3%.
posted by of strange foe at 11:12 AM on August 22

81%
posted by Wetterschneider at 11:28 AM on August 22

After several tries, because this is really addictive, this is about the best I managed, at just shy of 83%.

This is actually a fantastic art exercise. I’d love to see a version with different source paintings and configurable (within reason) time.
posted by gelfin at 3:17 PM on August 22 [7 favorites]

Fun! I am very bad at this.
posted by obfuscation at 4:17 PM on August 22

Gauguin In Sixty Seconds

Persistence From Memory
Hieronymus Botch
posted by pwnguin at 1:06 AM on August 23 [1 favorite]

The Draft of the Medusa
posted by zippy at 8:04 AM on August 23 [2 favorites]

Judith Sketching Holofernes
posted by cortex at 9:26 AM on August 23

Nude Designing a Staircase
posted by Mchelly at 9:31 AM on August 23

Ce n'est pas Ce n'est pas une pipe
posted by Rhaomi at 9:46 AM on August 23 [1 favorite]

Manageable Mondrian, gives us all a chance
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:36 AM on August 23

Saturn Devouring His Crayons
posted by cortex at 12:24 PM on August 23 [1 favorite]

On my first attempt, I accidentally started when trying to view the paining again, and it turns out I don't really know what the Mona Lisa looks like beyond "a seated portrait". A second attempt after actually looking at where the colors go in the paining produced a surprisingly satisfying composition -- only 72% but I feel much better about it.

I really wish the image download included the frame. My masterpiece deserves a fitting frame.

Also, drawing on a trackpad is very awkward.
posted by duien at 1:52 PM on August 23