I’m sure most people are familiar with blending modes on layers. These blending modes are also available on brushes. Once you choose a brush, you can choose different blending modes in the Mode drop-down menu in the top Options Bar. Using blending modes with brushes is useful for many things, including adding light to images. The most useful is the Color blend mode. In Color mode, only the color changes in the image, and the luminosity is protected. Worth noting, the keyboard shortcuts for cycling through blend modes work on brushes. When a brush is active, holding the Shift key and tapping either plus (+) or minus (–) will cycle through all the different blending modes. 

This tip previously published in Colin Smith’s Photoshop Tips column, in the June, 2020 issue of Photoshop User magazine.