The core of this idea came from learning that one meaning of “ruminate” is “chew the cud” for ruminants, e.g. cows and goats, and that “ruminant” comes from their multi-chambered stomachs, including a large “rumen”. From there I had the idea of contrasting my own “rumination” in the form of a brain diagram. Happily enough, brains actually do have four main compartments, which worked very nicely for consistency purposes.

I meant for the ‘pain’ of the tall guy to be physical rather than metaphorical. But both work, I guess. I wanted to do something less detailed, realistic. This may be a bit too far in the cartoony direction. I don’t know. It’s been awhile since I’ve done something non-digital and it’s nice in some ways (tactile, less likely to overwork for hours for minimal improvements) but frustrating in others (much harder to fix mistakes).

Kudos to my brother for the punch line (and inspiration for the comic). References: “My Kingdom For A Horse” - Richard III, info from https://literarydevices.net/my-kingdom-for-a-horse/ Paraphrased quotation from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-donald-trump-family-melania-ivanka-lesley-stahl) Picture of Trump in chair from https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/donald-trump-and-family-to-appear-on-60-minutes/, by Chris Albert White House - https://www.whitehouse.gov/ White House - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House#/media/File:White_House_north_and_south_sides.jpg Time lapse: