Thank you for the kind words, count kill alot.
What I do when I paint a banner is the following:
Do some sketches first and decide on a motive that is good looking but not too complex. I then do another sketch of the same size as the actual banner is and see if it fits. If it does, I copy the rough proportions with a very sharp pencil on the banner. Just be careful not to scratch the paint off. After tracing the outlines with your paintbrush the rest is pure practice. I've put lots of time into that banner and although I'm still far from perfect, I'm very happy with the result :)
Cheers,
Dogmar