Answer: Pixel Puzzle #367

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",
    "0122000000002210",
    "0020000000000200",
    "0222002002002220",
    "0020003003000200",
    "0002004004002000",
    "0020000000000200",
    "0002202002022000",
    "0020022002200200",
    "0022222002222200",
    "0111222222221110",
    "0222200000022220",
    "0022220000222200",
    "0020000000000200",
    "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: 16 × white
• Row 3: 1 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × orange, 8 × white, 2 × orange, 1 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 4: 2 × white, 1 × orange, 10 × white, 1 × orange, 2 × white
• Row 5: 1 × white, 3 × orange, 2 × white, 1 × orange, 2 × white, 1 × orange, 2 × white, 3 × orange, 1 × white
• Row 6: 2 × white, 1 × orange, 3 × white, 1 × white, 2 × white, 1 × white, 3 × white, 1 × orange, 2 × white
• Row 7: 3 × white, 1 × orange, 2 × white, 1 × navy, 2 × white, 1 × navy, 2 × white, 1 × orange, 3 × white
• Row 8: 2 × white, 1 × orange, 10 × white, 1 × orange, 2 × white
• Row 9: 3 × white, 2 × orange, 1 × white, 1 × orange, 2 × white, 1 × orange, 1 × white, 2 × orange, 3 × white
• Row 10: 2 × white, 1 × orange, 2 × white, 2 × orange, 2 × white, 2 × orange, 2 × white, 1 × orange, 2 × white
• Row 11: 2 × white, 5 × orange, 2 × white, 5 × orange, 2 × white
• Row 12: 1 × white, 3 × teal, 8 × orange, 3 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 13: 1 × white, 4 × orange, 6 × white, 4 × orange, 1 × white
• Row 14: 2 × white, 4 × orange, 4 × white, 4 × orange, 2 × white
• Row 15: 2 × white, 1 × orange, 10 × white, 1 × orange, 2 × white
• Row 16: 16 × white