It started with a curve in the middle of a page that might have become a tail before I got ambitious:
Partway through it, I wondered if it was dragony enough and debated slapping limbs on it. The vaguely fishy face was also a minor issue, and that’s where the barbels came from. The subject of why the splash in the first place came across my mind; at one point it was supposed to be holding prey in its mouth, but then I decided that it might just be fun to splash around.