Answer: Pixel Puzzle #386

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",
    "0000100000010000",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0001110000111000",
    "0011121001211100",
    "0012113003112100",
    "0212114114112120",
    "0111111111111110",
    "0111111221111110",
    "0021112222111200",
    "0111111111111110",
    "0012001111002100",
    "0011000000001100",
    "0010000000000100",
    "0010000000000100",
    "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: 4 × white, 1 × teal, 6 × white, 1 × teal, 4 × white
• Row 3: 2 × white, 5 × teal, 2 × white, 5 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 4: 3 × white, 3 × teal, 4 × white, 3 × teal, 3 × white
• Row 5: 2 × white, 3 × teal, 1 × blue, 1 × teal, 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × blue, 3 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 6: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × blue, 2 × teal, 1 × white, 2 × white, 1 × white, 2 × teal, 1 × blue, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 7: 1 × white, 1 × blue, 1 × teal, 1 × blue, 2 × teal, 1 × navy, 2 × teal, 1 × navy, 2 × teal, 1 × blue, 1 × teal, 1 × blue, 1 × white
• Row 8: 1 × white, 14 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 9: 1 × white, 6 × teal, 2 × blue, 6 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 10: 2 × white, 1 × blue, 3 × teal, 4 × blue, 3 × teal, 1 × blue, 2 × white
• Row 11: 1 × white, 14 × teal, 1 × white
• Row 12: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 1 × blue, 2 × white, 4 × teal, 2 × white, 1 × blue, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 13: 2 × white, 2 × teal, 8 × white, 2 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 14: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 10 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 15: 2 × white, 1 × teal, 10 × white, 1 × teal, 2 × white
• Row 16: 16 × white