Hi guys,
I'm currently trying my hand at tracing Atlas Shrugged and am running into some issues. I've easily got Atlas outlined, and was able to do some highlighting (somewhat keeping in line with the original shading) by using duplicate and multiple radial gradients (makes the program really slow though), but when trying to do the dark areas, the vector just kind of turns to looking like crap. I've attached a link to the image with just the brightness (I've already undid all my attempts ad the dark shading part). Anyone have any suggestions? Am I possibly going about this is the wrong way? Any tips or tutorials on this specific subject?

Thanks!

Hmm seeing this after your other post.
So you already use the brand new 64bit version of inkscape, which, is much faster then the original one with such fills?
Anyway you would need to "draw" each light and shade parts separately, blur them,
then make a group of the parts and clip with the outlines of the shape.
Here is how the process goes, for a bit simpler image:
http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13941&p=58514#p56754

Good luck!