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Step 1

To create this effect we don't need any fancy plug ins or tools, in fact we actually start out by creating just a regular orb, or globe and add all of the special effects to it first. Lets begin.

Start by creating a new image 300 X 300 with a white background.

Layers > New Raster Layer... > Ok

On the Tools toolbar, select the Selection (S)

On the Tool Options palette, set Selection type: Circle

Draw a circular selection in the center of your canvas. Don't make it to large:

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Save Selection To Alpha Channel... > Save

On the Materials palette, set your Foreground color to #fe4d01

On the Tools toolbar, select the Flood Fill Tool (F) and fill the selection:

Selections > Select None.

Step 2

Now we'll add the highlights to form our orb.

Layers > New Raster Layer... > Ok

On the Tools toolbar, select the Selection (S)

On the Tool Options palette, set Selection type: Ellipse

Draw a small elliptical selection towards the lower half of the image like so:

On the Materials palette, set your Foreground color to #ffa101

On the Tools toolbar, select the Flood Fill Tool (F) and fill the selection:

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Load Selection From Alpha Channel... > Load.

Adjust > Blur > Gaussian Blur > Radius: 8 > OK.

Layers > Merge > Merge Down.

Selections > Select None.

Step 3

Layers > New Raster Layer... > Ok

On the Tools toolbar, select the Selection (S)

On the Tool Options palette, set Selection type: Circle

Draw a small circular selection towards the upper part of our image like so:

On the Materials palette, set your Foreground color to #ffff00

On the Tools toolbar, select the Flood Fill Tool (F) and fill the selection:

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Load Selection From Alpha Channel... > Load.

Adjust > Blur > Gaussian Blur > Radius: 8 > OK.

Layers > Merge > Merge Down.

Selections > Select None.

Step 4

Just a couple more highlights to go for added detail.

Layers > New Raster Layer... > Ok

On the Tools toolbar, select the Selection (S)

On the Tool Options palette, set Selection type: Circle

Draw a smaller circular selection just to the side of the one we created above like so:

On the Materials palette, set your Foreground color to #ffffff

On the Tools toolbar, select the Flood Fill Tool (F) and fill the selection:

Selections > Load/Save Selection > Load Selection From Alpha Channel... > Load.

Adjust > Blur > Gaussian Blur > Radius: 7 > OK.

Layers > Merge > Merge Down.

Selections > Select None.

Step 5

Now we'll add the final detail.

Layers > New Raster Layer... > Ok

On the Tools toolbar, select the Selection (S)

On the Tool Options palette, set Selection type: Ellipse

Draw a fairly large elliptical selection over most of the image like so:

On the Materials palette, click on the Foreground color and select the Gradient tab. Click on the image to open the available gradients. Select Fading white and use the following settings:

On the Tools toolbar, select the Flood Fill Tool (F) and fill the selection:

Layers > Merge > Merge Down.

Selections > Select None.

Step 6

Now the fun part, transforming a perfectly good orb into a tear drop.

On the Tools toolbar, select the Move Tool (M)

Here's the important part! Move the orb into the upper right hand corner of the canvas. Leave a little room along the top and side:

Effects > Distortion Effects > Warp... and use the following settings:

Now your image should look similar to this:

Let's turn it right side up.

Use the Move Tool (M) and place the image back towards the center of the canvas.

On the Tools toolbar, select the Pick Tool (K)

On the Tool Options palette, set the Angle to 90:

Now you can reshape the image however you see fit. I've taken mine from this:

to this:

That's all there is to it! Now on your own, try it with different orb colors and highlight effects to see what you can come up with. I'll change mine a bit to see what I come up with for the bottom of this page. Enjoy!