Created my first tooling pattern...

[Tjstewart]

I got a long way to go far as creating a good pattern. Being this is first one I have drawn out myself hoping I can get a little constructive criticism on what to work on. Not necessarily looking for "a viener here, a seeder there" but ideas on how to improve drawing a pattern out or individual pieces better.

[rktaylor]

This is just my opinion and I am certainly not an expert. First, I think your pattern is too wide for the belt. The flowers run into the border. While you could probably make that work, they look crowded to me. Personally, I like the swirling flow that is typical of Sheridan tooling. Your design has 'hints' of that style, but it is also kind of linear. My suggestion is to consider the individual elements (leaves, scrolls, flowers, etc.) and how they flow together.

Just my opinion. Take it for what it cost you.

Randy

Edited January 15, 2017 by rktaylor
Grammar

[DJole]

Here's 3 cents of thinking for you:
It looks flat. Not enough tooling to make everything look dimensional. What you have there seems like a shader and veiner and beveler just stamped on top of the design. That's not a design problem, but I think the design is affecting how you are using the tools. 
Perhaps make those shaded (with the pear shader) areas bigger and more subtle, taking the time to tool the whole space rather than just the center. 
It looks like the beveler was used to outline rather than actually bevel or create a 3-D image, except in that center leaf vein. That looks much more dimensional than the other edge bevels. 
I'm not a Sheridan nor a floral style tooler, but I think the overall design is too linear rather than circular or spiral. Most of the horizontal lines in the center, between the two end flowers, are too gently curved. 
The curves need to be sharper, and overlap more.