AS the skyline at Oxford’s Radcliffe Observatory Quarter gradually changes, artist Weimin He is there to capture each significant alteration.

The 48-year-old is employed by Oxford University to sketch building work taking place at the site off Woodstock Road.

The university is completing a £200m redevelopment of the 10-acre site, which is bounded by Woodstock Road, Walton Street, Somerville College to the south, and Green Templeton College to the north.

The development will include a £70m maths institute for 500 support staff and 1,000 undergraduates and it is expected to open next year.

Using a combination of Chinese ink and watercolours, Summertown resident Mr He is drawing new buildings, cranes and construction workers on a daily basis.

The artist is willing to work in all weathers to record the development, which includes a new humanities building and maths institute.

After working as artist-in-residence at the Ashmolean Museum to document its £61m restoration, Mr He was offered the role of artist-in-residence for Oxford University’s estates directorate in 2009.

He said: “I love charting the progress of new buildings going up. It’s so dynamic and I can go more or less where I want on the site as long as I don’t get too close to the building work.

“I get portraits of the builders when they are on a break and hopefully my drawings mean their work will not be forgotten. When I sketch the builders it makes them feel special, they are quite happy that they are being immortalised.

“They come from countries all over the world including Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic, and that reflects the multicultural nature of 21st century Oxford.”

Mr He has completed hundreds of drawings of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter so far and plans to compile them for a book when his contract is completed in 2014, and stage an exhibition of his work.

In April, for one drawing of St Luke’s Chapel off Woodstock Road, Mr He climbed to the top of a 70ft fire escape to get a good aerial view.

He said: “For three days the weather was very stormy but I kept going and I’m pleased with the result.

“I think this area will become another very important part of the university and it’s been a privilege to see all these changes.”

As well as working for the university, Mr He teaches life drawing at the Ashmolean Museum.

Originally from Northern China, the artist moved to Oxford in 2005 to work as a research fellow in Chinese painting at the Ashmolean.

Oxford University spokesman Pete Wilton said: “The university is obliged to have an arts strategy for major developments and Weimin's work is central to this.

“Weimin’s work will ensure that the university and the community have a significant visual record of this historic development project.”