Thanks for your question. It's similar to some of my concerns about Steemit requiring whales in order for new users (minnows) to get over the barrier of entry. I think that the only way that a "small" artist gets "big" is through reaching out to other artists and people who have shared interests. Say "Hi, your work is great and you might like mine too"... and then over time....more people know about you and you grow to "medium" and so forth. Speaking from experience this can be intimidating, but you really have nothing to lose.

I would love to upvote young and emerging artists, but if I don't know they are out there it's hard to give them props.

Plus currently, Steemit is not very user friendly in terms of styling a portfolio so I haven't been swayed about its utility for artists yet unless they have a friend who can help them with markdown.