I've started the center design but have decided to change it somewhat from my original drawing. Instead of the plain diagonal banner in the original drawing, I've chosen to cut the flowing banner as shown below. For this step I drew the banner directly on the buckle using a micro tipped Sharpie marker. I can't say how many times I had to erase and start over to get it somewhat evenly placed. I've also decided to include a name in the banner, an idea I wasn't sure of initially. I believe the banner in the buckle as it stands now will be a better size for the lettering than the wide one originally. Again, I've darkened this quickly and temporarily so darkened areas do not appear even at this point for that reason. I am not too satisfied with the shading on the banner now that I see it darkened so I will go back to that and add a few more shading lines here and there to increase the contast in an attempt to bring it forward more. The center portion of the banner will also have some shading but will wait till I place the lettering before I do the shading on it. This picture is not the best, I will take another later today.
