Portrait of an Artist as a Panorama Master

(CBS)  "The Early Show" is featuring the work of Stephen Wiltshire in a week-long series.

Wiltshire is an London-based artist with autism who draws city panoramas after getting a glimpse of the location from a helicopter. The precise details of his panoramas -- done just from his memory -- are often startling.

Past projects have been the subject of documentaries, and his career has been covered by CBS since 1988, when he was a child prodigy. He is the author of three books, including his latest, "Floating Cities."

Read Stephen Wiltshire's "Early Show" Blog

To kick off the "Early Show" series, on Friday, Wiltshire boarded a helicopter and flew over Manhattan for 20 minutes to capture the New York cityscape in his mind. He is now in the process of recreating that image at a renowned art school, the Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn. Wiltshire will draw the cityscape onto a 20-foot long canvas. He should be finished with the work by Friday.

On "The Early Show" Web site, a live web cam is giving viewers an inside look into Wiltshire's work at Pratt. The daily "Early Show" broadcasts are updating viewers on his progress through the week, along with more stories about his life and art. The public is able to visit him while he works at the Pratt Institute from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday, Oct. 26 to Friday, Oct. 30.

Slideshow: Portrait of a Panorama Artist

According to Wiltshire's official Web site, Wiltshire studied Fine Art at City and Guilds of London Art School. His work is popular all over the world, and is held in a number of important collections.

Wiltshire's artistic talents were discovered when, as a child, he attended Queensmill School in London, having been diagnosed as autistic. It soon became apparent that he communicated with the world through the language of drawing; first animals, then London buses, and finally buildings. Wiltshire was encouraged to learn to speak by teachers who temporarily took away art materials from him so that he would be forced to ask for them.

Stephen continues to draw and paint prolifically, and to travel all over the world.

Wiltshire's "Early Show" art of Manhattan will complete his city panorama project. He has already completed drawings of London, Rome, Madrid, Dubai, Jerusalem, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Dubai.