Answer: Pixel Puzzle #356

The hidden picture is a pixel creature!

The picture as Python

Here is the same picture stored as numbers in a Python list. The program reads each number and prints a symbol for it, so you can see the picture appear in the Python shell.

picture = [
    "0000000000000000",
    "0000000000000000",
    "0000111001110000",
    "0011100000011100",
    "0001111001111000",
    "0011002112001100",
    "0000113443110000",
    "0000041001400000",
    "0000111111110000",
    "0010111111110100",
    "0041111111111400",
    "0111111001111110",
    "0000101001010000",
    "0010011001100100",
    "0000000000000000",
    "0000000000000000",
]
symbols = " #@*o"

for row in picture:
    line = ""
    for number in row:
        line = line + symbols[int(number)]
    print(line)

When you run it, it prints:

    ###  ###
  ###      ###
   ####  ####
  ##  @##@  ##
    ##*oo*##
     o#  #o
    ########
  # ######## #
  o##########o
 ######  ######
    # #  # #
  #  ##  ##  #

Squashing the picture smaller

Computers often save space with a trick called run-length encoding. Instead of storing every pixel, they count how many of the same colour are in a row. Here’s this picture written that way:

Show the run-length code

• Row 1: 16 × white
• Row 2: 16 × white
• Row 3: 4 × white, 3 × teal, 2 × white, 3 × teal, 4 × white
• Row 4: 2 × white, 3 × teal, 6 × white, 3 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 5: 3 × white, 4 × teal, 2 × white, 4 × teal, 3 × white
• Row 6: 2 × white, 2 × teal, 2 × white, 1 × white, 2 × teal, 1 × white, 2 × white, 2 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 7: 4 × white, 2 × teal, 1 × navy, 2 × purple, 1 × navy, 2 × teal, 4 × white
• Row 8: 5 × white, 1 × purple, 1 × teal, 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × purple, 5 × white
• Row 9: 4 × white, 8 × teal, 4 × white
• Row 10: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × white, 8 × teal, 1 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 11: 2 × white, 1 × purple, 10 × teal, 1 × purple, 2 × white
• Row 12: 1 × white, 6 × teal, 2 × white, 6 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 13: 4 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × white, 1 × teal, 4 × white
• Row 14: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × white, 2 × teal, 2 × white, 2 × teal, 2 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 15: 16 × white
• Row 16: 16 × white