Double post for update:
Please compare these three, guys, and tell me what you think.(Also adding in a 4th one so you guys can see where I started from.) One is using Wabi's high contrast idea. Keep in mind that, once again, I suck at GIMP and these will not be the final version. Zesh, who's actually good at GIMP will probably create the final version, but I haven't seen him on for a while...
But I do hope these get the point across. So, which is best?