"Spawned Out"

Shuffled through the mulch-pile looking for an accompanying image for the usual process post on this particular panel... but there wasn't anything. So it serves instead as an example of the occasional cartoon that arose as a result of thinking about inking another one instead - as is often the case while juggling multiple works. Add to the mix the attention span of a kitten looking out of a window at a birdfeeder and you can get an pretty good idea how it happens.

Optimal workflow in the studio (both mentally & physically) is a constant pipeline of output where various projects are all simultaneously vying for attention: from concept doodles, pencils, inks, coloring/shading, prepping digital files; freelance gigs + longer pieces + gag panels for the regular feature are all jockeying up for their relative positions on the starting line every time you sit down at the drawing board and/or computer. In the midst of all these migrating tasks in various stages of execution & completion the errant idea brainfarts out onto a blank piece of paper, and there you have it. Not quite Athenian in nature, but these random panels that are spawned in the stream-of-consciousness. It's also a case in point about riffing off of a pre-existing doodle that triggers the creative cascade of the inner Jacob's Ladder, and pushing it further, asking "what if" and coming up with - one hopes - something even better.