Art trends move more slowly than fashion trends, which is part of what makes them worth paying attention to. A painting you commission today will likely be on your wall for decades — so understanding what feels current, what feels timeless, and what is likely to feel dated in five years is genuinely useful. Here is what we are seeing in the studio and in the homes of our clients right now.
Color: Warm Earth Tones Are Dominating
The cool gray and white minimalism that defined the 2010s has given way to something warmer and more grounded. Terracotta, ochre, warm taupe, dusty rose, and deep olive are appearing everywhere — in interiors and in the art that fills them. Collectors are gravitating toward paintings with warm, saturated palettes that feel connected to the natural world. This is particularly resonant in Northern California, where the landscape itself — the golden hills of Sonoma, the warm light of Napa, the redwood shadows — provides a natural palette that translates beautifully into painted work.
Subject: The Return of Figurative Work
After decades of abstraction dominating the contemporary art market, figurative painting is experiencing a significant resurgence. Portraits, figure studies, and narrative paintings are being collected at levels not seen since the mid-twentieth century. This is not a nostalgic trend — contemporary figurative painting is psychologically complex, technically ambitious, and deeply personal. For commissioned work, this means clients are increasingly interested in portraits that go beyond likeness to capture character, mood, and story. Pet portraits, family portraits, and figurative works that celebrate specific people and moments are among our most requested commissions.
Subject: Local Landscape and Sense of Place
There is a growing appetite for art that is rooted in a specific place — that captures the particular quality of a landscape the collector knows and loves. For our Bay Area and Wine Country clients, this means paintings of the Sonoma and Napa valleys, the Marin headlands, the San Francisco skyline, the Pacific coast. This is art that does not just decorate a wall but connects a home to its geography. If you have a place that matters to you — a view, a landscape, a neighborhood — a commissioned painting of that place is one of the most meaningful things you can put on your wall.
Medium: Acrylic Is Having a Moment
Acrylic painting has shed its reputation as a lesser alternative to oil and is being recognized for what it actually is: a medium with its own distinct qualities — fast-drying, versatile, capable of both luminous transparency and rich impasto texture. Contemporary collectors appreciate acrylic's range and the fact that it is more durable and stable than oil over time. At The Commission House, the majority of our commissions are executed in acrylic on canvas, and we have found that clients are increasingly choosing it deliberately rather than by default.
Scale: Bigger Than You Think
One of the most consistent pieces of advice we give clients is to go larger than their first instinct. The trend in residential art is toward fewer, larger pieces rather than gallery walls of smaller works. A single 36×48 inch painting above a sofa makes a stronger statement than four 12×16 inch prints arranged in a grid. Large-scale work commands a room in a way that smaller work cannot, and it tends to age better — it reads as a considered choice rather than a collection of things accumulated over time.
- Warm earth tones — terracotta, ochre, dusty rose, deep olive.
- Figurative and portrait work — character-driven, psychologically rich.
- Local landscape — paintings rooted in a specific, known place.
- Acrylic on canvas — valued for versatility, durability, and range.
- Large-scale single statements over gallery walls of small works.
Commission something that feels current, personal, and built to last.
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