If there was a most popular theme during the late Renaissance it must have been The Three Graces. They were depicted by Rubens and countless other 16th century painters and sculptors alike. In Greek mythology they are  known as The Three Graces, goddesses af charm, beauty, and creativity.

In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae. From the youngest to oldest the Graces were: Agleaea ("Beauty"), Euphrosyne ("Good Cheer", and Thalia ("Festivities") and please do not ask me to pronounce any of those names i would surely mess it up.

I personally think that it was an excuse to get three naked or nearly naked women to pose. I gave my graces modesty and borrowed the Queen Joséphine of France's Empire Style (Remember the Empire Waist Dress?)

I always thought as a big breasted lady that they made me look rather F A T.
But I digress . . .
I liked building up my texture for the background in this. I used every multimedia paint technique I remember reading about. Some worked good some not so good.
Secondly I photographed the painted background and loaded it into Photoshop. I did not change anything of the painted canvas except the light in the room was florescent so I had to lean toward magenta in my highlights to compensate for the yellow green tint.

I photograph EVERYTHING and carry a camera wherever I go. When we here at Hearst Castle I photographed a lovely sculpture of "The Graces" They of course being in a rather public place I decided to change their appearance so that they did not look as refined and marble like.

I am fairly happy with the result so here it is in all it's gracefulness.
Barbara

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