Chester artist Dai Owen has presented a drawing to the city’s Grosvenor Museum.

Under Hoole Bridge is now on display in the museum’s major winter exhibition, Picturesque Chester: The City in Art, which runs until February 22.

Dai said: “I made this drawing in 2012, using a combination of ink, coloured wash and white felt-tip pen on coloured card. The site, lying to one side of Hoole Bridge, is a crossroads of routes and levels.

“Lying below the walkway of the bridge, the lines of the road and pavement, flanked on either side by everyday workplaces, draw the eye into the black shadows under the bridge. Onto this backdrop I dropped the haphazard parking pattern of the cars, reduced to simpler shapes. I then used white to bring out some details and add to the feeling of different levels.”

Dai Owen continued: “I was born in Wales in 1944, and lived there until I moved to Chester in 1973. After working as an archaeological and then general illustrator, I became very keen on ‘reportage drawing’, and did an MA on this at Glyndwr University in Wrexham.

“I am interested in sketching people in active situations, and drawing urban landscapes that are in decay, being built, or showing signs of wear and life. Street furniture such as lamp-posts and pavement edges, much like contour lines, give clues to the lie of the land.

I am especially interested in line work, and I draw standing up using a selection of fibre-tipped pens on a pad of cartridge paper.”

Councillor Stuart Parker, Cheshire West and Chester Council’s executive member for culture and economy, said: “I am most grateful to Dai Owen for his very generous donation. Under Hoole Bridge is a wonderfully intimate drawing, capturing a small corner of everyday Chester which would only be noticed, let alone regarded as worthy of capturing in art, by someone who has lived here for years.

Dai was artist in residence during the 2013 cycle of the Chester Mystery Plays and created a gallery of drawings during rehearsals and the performances. He has also produced a series of drawings of Pat Collins Fair at the Little Roodee.

The Grosvenor Museum is open Monday – Saturday 10.30-5 and Sunday 1-4, admission free.