[CNBA] Glass Orb Tutorial

[Luneth]

Alright, first off make a new document.
I will be using 300x300.

Now fill the canvas with a single color, I am using a light saturated blue color.

Now, make a new layer and select the "Elliptical Marquee Tool"
Hold Shift and make a selection the size that you want the Orb to be.
Fill the selection with black, then deselect using Ctrl+D.

Now double click the layer with the black circle.
Under Advanced Blending Options, select "Layer Mask Hides Effects".



Now hit Ok, and make a new layer mask. (Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All).
Select your black circle again by holding Ctrl and clicking the layer.
Right click inside the selection and hit "Select Inverse".

Click your layer mask, and fill the selection with black.
Ctrl + Click your black circle layer again, and go to Select>Modify>Contract, and contract the selection by 1 pixel.
Now right click inside the selection and click feather, and feather it by 1 pixel.
Now hit delete on your keyboard 3 times.
You should now have something similar to this:



Now double click on the black circle layer again. (Not the layer mask), and select "Outer Glow".

Use these settings:
Blending Mode: Color Dodge
Opacity: 100%
Color: White
Size: 8

Your image should now look like this:



Now make a new layer, and select the Elliptical Marquee tool and make a selection about 3/4th size of your original circle, with slightly more height than width. Your selection should look something like this:



Now select the Gradient tool (Or hit G on your keyboard).
Make the color range of the gradient white fading to transparent.
Now going up to down, fill the selection with the gradient.
Set the blending mode of this layer to Soft Light.

Now duplicate this layer and stretch it (Ctrl+t) horizontally 115%.
Now hit enter, you should have something similar to this:



Now transform the gradient layer, NOT the transformed one, and flip it vertically.
(Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical)

Move the duplicated layer to the bottom, leaving about the same room as you did on the top.
Now hit Ctrl+U and make the Lightness -100%. Hit enter.
Now make the opacity of this layer 20%, double click the layer and use these settings.

Outer Glow:
Blending Mode: Color Dodge
Opacity: 60%
Size: 0

You should now have something like this:



Now make a new layer and select the Brush tool. Reset your brushes.
Now select a soft round brush, the size will vary depending on the size of your orb, But I am using a 45 px brush for my orb. Just use your best judgment.

Now make a short diagonal brush stroke on the top right of your orb.
Double click on this layer and use these settings:

Outer Glow:
Blend Mode: Color Dodge
Opacity: 10%
Size: 20

You should now have something similar to this.



Use the elliptical Marquee tool to make a show, and add some effects of your own and you will have something similar to this.



Also:
If you feel your outline of the orb is too solid, try lowering the fill a bit until you're happy with the outcome.

Want to have a look at the PSD for learning purposes?
If so then Click here

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.