Stephen Wiltshire has an almost perfect visual memory matched with an energetic and appealing capacity to draw. Called “idiot savant” in the past, Stephen is autistic, has difficulty communicating and is a successful commercial artist.

"Like other savant artists, Stephen's work depicts exactly what he sees without embellishment, stylization, or interpretation. He makes no notes; impressions are indelibly and faithfully inscribed from a single exposure for later recall and he draws swiftly, beginning anywhere on the page."



In the excerpt of the video I saw he flew over Rome in a helicopter for an hour, and then in the next 3 days proceeded to draw all of the city on a gigantic canvas. It was startlingly accurate, down to the number of windows, arches, columns and how much of the Tiber can be seen from which angle.

Find out more here:
http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant/wiltshire.cfm
http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/

Labels: Design