Do great work, learn business and marketing basics (these days there are lots of great books out there aimed at artists).
Accept even the most simple jobs and do them well, success will build upon itself.
Don't worry about developing a style or a name, just worry about doing your best and keep learning.
Have a good portfolio website and don't get sucked into spending a bunch of time on social media showing your work to your friends.
Investigate what other successful artists with work similar to yours are doing to gain exposure. Build on these ideas to develop your own market.
Have business cards at the ready at all times, and exchange cards even when you think the person you are conversing with is not a potential client. Network building is an important part of any business.
And I'll say it again -- do great work!
And in any art museum, portraits are everywhere: in every style, color, and size, from every country and created by every type of artist.
In a portrait's brushstrokes we find a path connecting us to another human on a timeless level.
Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, van Gogh and Rembrandt's many self-portraits, these are just a few of the well-known portraits that have come down to us through the ages. Their popularity is testimony to the power and value of capturing personality, character, and aspect, on canvas.
Oil paint captures the living qualities of the human face and body like no other medium. Skillfully handled, the portrait transcends technique and draws the viewer in, and a single artist creates a treasure for us all.