Frederick George Reynolds was born in London, the son of a watercolourist, Frederick G Reynolds senior, who was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy. Reynolds took up painting as a boy and received his formal training in London, including a stint at the British Museum. Thinking he could make a living on the land, he came to Australia in 1899 and, after some time at an agricultural college, began work as a drover near Shepparton.

He also worked in dairying and logging before returning to Melbourne around 1907 and deciding to focus on painting. He spent time at an artists’ camp at Mentone in 1914; and from 1916 was a regular exhibitor with the Victorian Artists’ Society, having first shown his work in VAS exhibitions in 1907 and 1908.