Now, we needed a background that would be similar to the existing prints of Katherine the Great and Queen Victoria.
Added a new layer and put it at the bottom. Hit command-a to select the entire layer and filled with 50 percent gray. Added another new layer above the 50 percent gray layer and with the airbrush tool, began putting in darker tones in an irregular pattern (used black for the color and a large brush size). Use Gaussian blur to soften the pattern further, reduced transparency to about 90 percent then merged with the 50 percent gray layer. Added another new layer and repeated the steps to make irregular patterns, using 20 percent gray instead of black.
Lightened the background on the left side of the head to make the figure pop. Also lightened the highlights on her right arm and outside areas of hair...more popping.
Added an Egyptian statue to a new layer, adjusted the transparency and merged with the background (a different blend mode was used, but can't remember which). Some noise was added to the entire background.
After the figure was merged with the background, the blur tool was used on outside edges to soften. This kept things from looking cut out.

TIP:
Painters frequently do an under painting using one color to help give the painting a color harmony. A similar effect can be achieved in Photoshop by adjusting layer transparency and blending modes.