What tool to soften hair?

[Djard007]

I painted some hair on a person's head and want to soften the edges. The problem I have is that the background is solid white in the B & W image, so feathering and expansion does not work. Using the Smudge brush at an opacity of 40 works, but tracking all the fine parts is labor-intensive. I thought of using the Selection tool, cutting the section out and pasting it into a new canvas, where I could add some Gaussian blur; but the outer edges are not softened enough with blur. Attached in the image (zoom in to see the painted hair that has hard edges). Any ideas what I might try?

[trueblue]

Firstly, I wouldn't be using the 'paintbrush'......you can achieve more with the Art Media. The oil brush and Smear Tool are great for painting hair.

[Djard007]

Thanks for your kind response and interesting suggestion. I did use the Gaussian blur and it worked nicely, but I will try the options you suggest to draw hair.