When you want to create a nice ball and add some spikes to it, a 3D modeling program could help you achieve outstanding results, but what about doing it in Photoshop, from first click to saving the image? If you find the image below to be interesting, then you should keep reading…

1. Create a new image, using any settings you want. I will make it 500X500, as usual.

2. Press Ctrl+Shift+N to create a new layer, and fill it with a color(I will use Black).

3. Create a circle-shaped selection in the middle of the image, and then go to Filter>Render>Clouds. Now, your image should look similar to the one below.

4. Now, go to Filter>Stylize>Extrude, and use my settings below as a guide. To start playing with them, I recommend picking the Size option first (just change it, and you’ll see…).

5. Press Ctrl+U to bring up the Hue/Saturation settings, and play with them to bring some color into action. Be sure to have Colorize checked!

6. If you’re not happy with the current result, you can go to the Distort menu and play with the filters available there. For example, using Wave can help you achieve results like the one below, while Spherize, followed by Twirl helped me produce the image at the beginning of this article…