My first two banners I've ever made., These are the 2 banners that I've made.

[Kenshin]

This is the first banner I've ever made.




This is my second banner.

[animefreak08]

And they are pretty good for a beginner. But for backgrounds instead of using patters, try any renders you can find(I get mine from DeviantART)or you can make your own using the Gradiant tool, I set it to difference, and red over green, then hit cntrl+u to set the color.