Howick, Kwa-Zulu Natal Midlands, South Africa
18 Sangster Road Howick

A selection of beautifully rendered original pencil artworks and fine art prints by Vincent Reid, a full time artist based in Howick in the beautiful KwaZulu-Natal Midlands of South Africa.
A quiet record of time spent looking, listening, and being.
Vincent Reid
“Sagole”
1670mm x 1060mm (unframed)
Pencil on Saunders Waterford paper.
The Sagole Baobab is the largest Baobab in the world (Guiness World Records) and I had the privilege of seeing it "in person" back in 2023. Being in the presence of this tree is a profound experience - a bit like being in a huge natural cathedral with massive organic flying buttresses that soar overhead. Up close the sheer expanse of living organic matter contained in this organism is breathtaking, its "flesh" reminding me of molten lava which cooled centuries ago.
It is estimated to be 1200 years old - so not the oldest but it still predates a lot of our human follies is this part of the world by a long way.
Baobabs are like cities and often host a variety of species including weavers, bats and bees. This tree is home to a colony of Mottled Spinetails which could be seen flitting in and out of the upper branches.
The origin of its name is unclear but the direct translation of the phrase "sagole" from Venda is "like a cloud" and my personal conclusion is that it is a reference to its size and how it looks when it is full of leaves in summer.
Medium: Pencil on Saunders Waterford PaperFinishing: Currently unframed - Framing price on enquiry
Baobab pencil drawing
African wildlife pencil drawings
Realistic Nature drawings
Vincent Reid
I was born in 1970 and raised on a farm in Zimbabwe, where my connection to landscape and observation began. Much of my childhood was spent in the hills and along the rivers of our family farm, learning to watch the quiet details of the natural world.
Growing up in Zimbabwe during the 1980s, access to art materials was limited, and pencil became my primary means of expression. I later trained as an interior designer and spent 18 years working in the exhibition and events industry as a designer and business owner. Over time, the demands of the corporate world drew me away from personal creative work.
In 2011, I made the decision to leave that world behind and return to drawing. My family and I relocated to Howick in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, where a slower, rural environment allowed me to reconnect with my practice.
I work primarily in graphite, drawn to its capacity for texture, contrast, and subtlety. My work is rooted in firsthand experience and direct observation, and each drawing reflects a personal encounter with the African outdoors.