Answer: Pixel Puzzle #358

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",
    "0000012002100000",
    "0001122002211000",
    "0111111111111110",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0011213113121100",
    "0111214114121110",
    "0111111221111110",
    "0111122002211110",
    "0111111001111110",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0011111111111100",
    "0111011001101110",
    "0001111111111000",
    "0000001001000000",
    "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:

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