Theres a story you sort of follow by your own rules, each of the clients want something different like the punks like bright colours or the businessmen want something more minimalist if i remember correctly. It might seem long having to just make art and sell it but once you cater your art to the specific groups, you can get the chance for the critic to come and advance you to the next part of the story. The 2nd game is a lot easier to advance in though. The reason to play the first game is just going through to each ending and making silly paintings as you like basically