Answer: Pixel Puzzle #389

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",
    "0010000000000100",
    "0011000000001100",
    "0111110000111110",
    "0011100000011100",
    "0011112002111100",
    "0013114004113100",
    "0131111001111310",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0010111001110100",
    "0111101001011110",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0013110000113100",
    "0001111001111000",
    "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: 2 × white, 1 × yellow, 10 × white, 1 × yellow, 2 × white
• Row 3: 2 × white, 2 × yellow, 8 × white, 2 × yellow, 2 × white
• Row 4: 1 × white, 5 × yellow, 4 × white, 5 × yellow, 1 × white
• Row 5: 2 × white, 3 × yellow, 6 × white, 3 × yellow, 2 × white
• Row 6: 2 × white, 4 × yellow, 1 × white, 2 × white, 1 × white, 4 × yellow, 2 × white
• Row 7: 2 × white, 1 × yellow, 1 × blue, 2 × yellow, 1 × navy, 2 × white, 1 × navy, 2 × yellow, 1 × blue, 1 × yellow, 2 × white
• Row 8: 1 × white, 1 × yellow, 1 × blue, 4 × yellow, 2 × white, 4 × yellow, 1 × blue, 1 × yellow, 1 × white
• Row 9: 2 × white, 5 × yellow, 2 × white, 5 × yellow, 2 × white
• Row 10: 2 × white, 1 × yellow, 1 × white, 3 × yellow, 2 × white, 3 × yellow, 1 × white, 1 × yellow, 2 × white
• Row 11: 1 × white, 4 × yellow, 1 × white, 1 × yellow, 2 × white, 1 × yellow, 1 × white, 4 × yellow, 1 × white
• Row 12: 2 × white, 5 × yellow, 2 × white, 5 × yellow, 2 × white
• Row 13: 2 × white, 1 × yellow, 1 × blue, 2 × yellow, 4 × white, 2 × yellow, 1 × blue, 1 × yellow, 2 × white
• Row 14: 3 × white, 4 × yellow, 2 × white, 4 × yellow, 3 × white
• Row 15: 16 × white
• Row 16: 16 × white