Playground · Drawing · SVG · Standing test
Pelican riding a bicycle
"Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle" is Simon Willison's well-known test. Models write the drawing as code without seeing it, so the hard parts are putting a bird's legs on pedals and its wings on handlebars, and drawing a bicycle frame that joins up. Look at where each pelican sits, what its feet and wings touch, and whether it has the long beak and throat pouch.
The prompt, word for word
Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle
Every answer runs live, in a sandboxed frame. Click into one to play with it.
How each model did
| Model | Our notes | Checks | Time | Output tokens | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6.1 Sol Our pick | A white pelican with a crest and a long beak over a shaded orange pouch, riding a teal bicycle along a beach with the sea and sun behind. One wing rests on the handlebar grip and the near foot is on a pedal, with the far leg running to the crank. The frame has an extra crossing tube, like a mixte, but it reads as a bicycle. | 3 of 3 | 46 s | 2,410 105 thinking |
$0.024 |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | A white bird with an S-shaped neck, a long yellow beak and an orange pouch, on a red bicycle with two dark wheels. Both feet are on pedals and a wing stretches to the drop handlebar. The curling neck makes it look a little like a goose, and the saddle is hidden under the body. | 3 of 3 | 27 s | 2,745 256 thinking |
$0.055 |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | A simple flat drawing: an oval body, a straight neck, a round head with an orange pouch, on a black bicycle. The saddle is visible under the body, both feet reach the pedals and one wing stretches out to the handlebars. Plain but correct, and the most expensive of the short answers. | 3 of 3 | 25 s | 2,052 42 thinking |
$0.103 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | A detailed road scene with gradients, a dotted chain and a huge orange pouch with a blue fish inside. The head is covered by a red helmet with no eye showing, and a yellow hook sticks out of it. Feet reach both pedals, but the neck sits over the stem so the handlebars are hidden and the wing stops short of them.
|
2.5 of 3 | 92 s | 10,352 2,332 thinking |
$0.039 |
| Muse Spark 1.3 | A cartoon pelican with headphones, a red scarf and pink cheeks on a red bicycle by a road. Both feet are on the pedals and a stiff wing reaches forward to the stem, covering the handlebars. Odd white spikes stick out of the back of the head. | 3 of 3 | 55 s | 4,836 2,151 thinking |
$0.021 |
| Grok 4.7 | A white bird perched on the top tube in front of the saddle, with its wings folded and nothing touching the handlebars. The beak is a flat orange wedge with a small pouch floating loose beneath it. The bicycle itself is complete, with a saddle, pedals, handlebars and a rear rack, and both feet do reach the pedals.
|
2 of 3 | 19 s | 1,265 46 thinking |
$0.008 |
| Kimi K3 | A round white pelican with a red scarf and a big yellow pouch, on a teal bicycle with a chain and a visible saddle. Both feet are on the pedals and a wing reaches forward to grip the handlebars. Clear and well put together, but the slowest and most expensive answer here. | 3 of 3 | 466 s | 15,623 11,469 thinking |
$0.235 |
| Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | A cream pelican on a red bicycle on sand, with a large orange pouch with a fish's fin showing inside it. The saddle shows under the body, both feet are on the pedals, the wing tip rests on curved handlebars and the chain wraps the chainring. The most complete bicycle of the ten. | 3 of 3 | 452 s | 17,945 14,432 thinking |
$0.108 |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | A bold outline drawing: an upright egg-shaped body, a pink cap and a square-ended orange beak with its pouch drawn as one curve. A flat wing reaches the handlebars, but the body hovers over the frame with no saddle in view, and the zigzag feet dangle by a single pedal. The cheapest answer.
|
2 of 3 | 52 s | 10,860 8,586 thinking |
$0.006 |
| Mistral Large 4 | A pelican in a red helmet and scarf on a teal bicycle with mudguards, on a road with hills, flowers and birds. Both webbed feet sit on pedals and a wing grips the handlebar end, with a pale pouch under the long beak. Close to the best answer, but it took over seven minutes. | 3 of 3 | 447 s | 21,554 12,601 thinking |
$0.045 |
One answer per model, at each model's default settings unless the card says otherwise, through OpenRouter. If an answer ran out of room or stopped short, we asked again with more room, then with thinking off, and say so. We tried every answer, with Claude Opus 5.5 running the checks and drafting the notes; it is an Anthropic model, so we check its calls on Claude answers ourselves. This is a quick look, not a benchmark: run it again and every answer will differ. For measured results, see our benchmarks.
What we checked, by trying each answer ourselves: Recognisably a pelican (long beak with a throat pouch, a bird body); Actually riding: on the saddle, legs or feet reaching the pedals, wings or beak at the handlebars; A plausible bicycle: two wheels, a frame joining them, pedals, handlebars and a saddle. A partial pass counts as half.
Verdict
Most models drew a pelican on a working bicycle. GPT-6.1 Sol's is the clearest pelican, with the best-shaped beak and pouch, a wing on the grip and a foot on a pedal, and it took 46 seconds and cost $0.024. Mistral Large 4, Qwen3.8 Max and Kimi K3 are nearly as good and have more detail (Qwen shows the saddle and chain, Mistral both webbed feet on pedals), but each took around seven and a half minutes, and Kimi cost $0.23. Claude Fable 5.1 and Claude Opus 5.5 gave simple, correct drawings in under 30 seconds.
Grok 4.7 was the fastest at 19 seconds, but its bird perches on the top tube with its wings folded and its pouch floating loose. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash was the cheapest at $0.006, but its pelican hovers over the frame with no saddle in view. Gemini 3.8 Flash hid its pelican's head under a helmet and its handlebars behind the neck.
What would your prompt get?The Spring Prompt playground runs one prompt on up to six models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral and others, side by side.
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