Answer: Pixel Puzzle #359

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",
    "0010100000010100",
    "0111110000111110",
    "0111111001111110",
    "0111111001111110",
    "0011112112111100",
    "0010113113110100",
    "0010111001110100",
    "0001111111111000",
    "0014111111114100",
    "0011411111141100",
    "0011411001141100",
    "0111111111111110",
    "0041141001411400",
    "0011114004111100",
    "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#
  ##o######o##
  ##o##  ##o##
 ##############
  o##o#  #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: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × white, 1 × teal, 6 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 3: 1 × white, 5 × teal, 4 × white, 5 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 4: 1 × white, 6 × teal, 2 × white, 6 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 5: 1 × white, 6 × teal, 2 × white, 6 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 6: 2 × white, 4 × teal, 1 × white, 2 × teal, 1 × white, 4 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 7: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × white, 2 × teal, 1 × navy, 2 × teal, 1 × navy, 2 × teal, 1 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 8: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × white, 3 × teal, 2 × white, 3 × teal, 1 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 9: 3 × white, 10 × teal, 3 × white
• Row 10: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × red, 8 × teal, 1 × red, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 11: 2 × white, 2 × teal, 1 × red, 6 × teal, 1 × red, 2 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 12: 2 × white, 2 × teal, 1 × red, 2 × teal, 2 × white, 2 × teal, 1 × red, 2 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 13: 1 × white, 14 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 14: 2 × white, 1 × red, 2 × teal, 1 × red, 1 × teal, 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × red, 2 × teal, 1 × red, 2 × white
• Row 15: 2 × white, 4 × teal, 1 × red, 2 × white, 1 × red, 4 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 16: 16 × white