affinity designer Second vector attempt

[Skygod1095]

What do you think? Does anyone else use a base color and then use black or white with lower opacity for shadows or highlights? Wondering if this is the best way or not. 

[VectorVonDoom]

Depends. Sometimes for highlights you can be better off with a grey (or grey gradient) and screen blending mode if it's across an underlying gradient or multiple objects. But then if you have a reference image you can just do it as a gradient and match the highlight which is what I do for most things. The trouble with white and lower opacity is it doesn't give bright highlights unless you use multiple objects although you might have to do that whichever way you go about it. I pretty much always use 100% opacity but once in a while knock it down a bit if it's a bit too much. 

For shadows I sometimes use multiply blend mode but again usually just use gradients with the right colours.

Having said that your highlights and shadows aren't bad at all, some could perhaps do with a bit of a gradient though rather than a single colour and blur out the highlights on the trousers more. So do whatever works for you, there's not really a correct way to do many things, as long as it looks like you want in the end.

[Skygod1095]

Thank you. I want to try different techniques. I find that with the method above if you change the base color slightly it also changes the highlights and shadows accordingly. 
 

im going to try gradients in my next little project. 
 

thanks for your feedback.