Answer: Pixel Puzzle #362

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",
    "0011000000001100",
    "0001111001111000",
    "0011101001011100",
    "0010112002110100",
    "0010113113110100",
    "0111111001111110",
    "0111111001111110",
    "0411141001411140",
    "0111141001411110",
    "0010411111140100",
    "0001141001411000",
    "0000114114110000",
    "0000011001100000",
    "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: 16 × white
• Row 3: 2 × white, 2 × red, 8 × white, 2 × red, 2 × white
• Row 4: 3 × white, 4 × red, 2 × white, 4 × red, 3 × white
• Row 5: 2 × white, 3 × red, 1 × white, 1 × red, 2 × white, 1 × red, 1 × white, 3 × red, 2 × white
• Row 6: 2 × white, 1 × red, 1 × white, 2 × red, 1 × white, 2 × white, 1 × white, 2 × red, 1 × white, 1 × red, 2 × white
• Row 7: 2 × white, 1 × red, 1 × white, 2 × red, 1 × navy, 2 × red, 1 × navy, 2 × red, 1 × white, 1 × red, 2 × white
• Row 8: 1 × white, 6 × red, 2 × white, 6 × red, 1 × white
• Row 9: 1 × white, 6 × red, 2 × white, 6 × red, 1 × white
• Row 10: 1 × white, 1 × orange, 3 × red, 1 × orange, 1 × red, 2 × white, 1 × red, 1 × orange, 3 × red, 1 × orange, 1 × white
• Row 11: 1 × white, 4 × red, 1 × orange, 1 × red, 2 × white, 1 × red, 1 × orange, 4 × red, 1 × white
• Row 12: 2 × white, 1 × red, 1 × white, 1 × orange, 6 × red, 1 × orange, 1 × white, 1 × red, 2 × white
• Row 13: 3 × white, 2 × red, 1 × orange, 1 × red, 2 × white, 1 × red, 1 × orange, 2 × red, 3 × white
• Row 14: 4 × white, 2 × red, 1 × orange, 2 × red, 1 × orange, 2 × red, 4 × white
• Row 15: 5 × white, 2 × red, 2 × white, 2 × red, 5 × white
• Row 16: 16 × white