Answer: Pixel Puzzle #355

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",
    "0011100000011100",
    "0012111001112100",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0122113003112210",
    "0011104004011100",
    "0122110000112210",
    "0122111001112210",
    "0021112002111200",
    "0111111001111110",
    "0011111111111100",
    "0111010000101110",
    "0011121111211100",
    "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: 2 × white, 3 × teal, 6 × white, 3 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 4: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × blue, 3 × teal, 2 × white, 3 × teal, 1 × blue, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 5: 2 × white, 5 × teal, 2 × white, 5 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 6: 1 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × blue, 2 × teal, 1 × white, 2 × white, 1 × white, 2 × teal, 2 × blue, 1 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 7: 2 × white, 3 × teal, 1 × white, 1 × navy, 2 × white, 1 × navy, 1 × white, 3 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 8: 1 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × blue, 2 × teal, 4 × white, 2 × teal, 2 × blue, 1 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 9: 1 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × blue, 3 × teal, 2 × white, 3 × teal, 2 × blue, 1 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 10: 2 × white, 1 × blue, 3 × teal, 1 × blue, 2 × white, 1 × blue, 3 × teal, 1 × blue, 2 × white
• Row 11: 1 × white, 6 × teal, 2 × white, 6 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 12: 2 × white, 12 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 13: 1 × white, 3 × teal, 1 × white, 1 × teal, 4 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × white, 3 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 14: 2 × white, 3 × teal, 1 × blue, 4 × teal, 1 × blue, 3 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 15: 16 × white
• Row 16: 16 × white