Tool Quick Study: Using Claude Opus 5.5 to quickly turn photos into brushstroke paintings
Simon Willison used prompts to have Claude Opus 5.5 High build Quick Study: after opening a photo, it draws a version of that photo within seconds using a canvas element and a simulated paintbrush. The tool uses Sobel edge detection and depends on no external libraries other than Google Fonts.
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23rd October 2026
Tool Quick Study
Prompt to Claude Opus 5.5 High:
Build an artifact where you open a photo and it rapidly (in a few seconds) paints a version of that photo using a canvas element and simulated paintbrush
See also my previous experiment getting Claude Fable to simulate a watercolor illustration with P5.js.
Quick Study uses Sobel edge detection, with no external libraries beyond Google Fonts.
Posted 23rd October 2026 at 9:35 pm
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