I used my dark blue to very liberally cover the areas that I wanted to highlight. You can see that this ends up being most of the horse – the only places that didn't get some blue were the undersides of the belly and head, and the deep recesses of the legs, tail, and mane.
![Black-blue basecoat Black-blue basecoat](workbench/pics/fan/2007/647454a.jpg)
The next photo shows the result of adding some more blue to my mix. Again, I just added the amount that "felt" right. I wanted a color that looked like a small step up (in brightness and intensity) from the very dark blue. I used this new color to paint right over the dark blue, being sure to leave some of the darker color showing.
![First highlight First highlight](workbench/pics/fan/2007/647454b.jpg)
I know that I'll be using some washes/glazes to tone down and tie together the highlights, so I mix still more blue into my highlight color and hit the high spots again, once more covering a smaller area, and concentrating on high points facing my imaginary light source (above and behind the horse).
![More highlighting More highlighting](workbench/pics/fan/2007/647454c.jpg)
Now, I give the black parts a mid-strength wash of a mix of blue and black ink. I don't remember the formula exactly, but .5:1:1:5 (black ink:blue ink:Future:water) is probably close. The result is that the highlights I've painted on are now muted, and closer together in brightness and color. At this point, I allow the figure to sit for a while to dry – all that water takes a bit of time to evaporate (happily though, the Future helps speed the drying a bit).
![Washed Washed](workbench/pics/fan/2007/647454d.jpg)
Upon returning, I can see that the wash has finished the job for me. I'm happy with the way the horse looks (other than the hideous ink-shine), so I quickly glue on some flock and apply my two-step varnish (first, cheap satin; and then Testors Dullcote – or whatever equivalent I'm using). With that, the horse is all done...