Answer: Pixel Puzzle #352

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",
    "0112100000012110",
    "0001110000111000",
    "0012110000112100",
    "0001113113111000",
    "0000124004210000",
    "0010112002110100",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0011201001021100",
    "0021111001111200",
    "0111000110001110",
    "0010000000000100",
    "0000001001000000",
    "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:

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