A YOUNG artist only has to look at a scene that he wants to capture for a matter of seconds before he can draw it in incredible detail.

Conan Andrews, nine, from Brighton, was diagnosed with autism aged nine.

He began drawing at seven, and has already had his artwork displayed at exhibitions.

His artwork includes the Great Fire of London and warships from the First World War.

In February, specialists from Seaside View diagnosed him as an autistic savant, meaning he is following in the footsteps of London artist Stephen Wiltshire who made international headlines for drawing entire cities from memory in the 1980s.

His mother Jonesta Andrews, 47, said: “Conan was diagnosed as a high functioning autistic. He draws to calm himself down. We were told by doctors he is one of the two only savants in Brighton. He is also a skilled sculptor and drummer. He can play back a song after listening to it once.

“Conan is attending mainstream school, he is getting extra help. He should be able to go to secondary school and maybe college because of his drawings.

“Conan likes to draw scenes. At the moment he is into the First World War and the Vietnam War, so he watches YouTube videos of battleships and helicopters, memorises them and draws them.

“It takes him between two and ten minutes to finish a picture. He recently drew the Amex Stadium while watching a football game on TV with his grandad.

"He drew the picture after just having a quick look at it. Conan drew the picture in ten minutes.”

Jonesta added Conan sometimes suffers high anxiety and would not go to sleep until 2am.

She said: “Drawing helps him reset his body and mind, otherwise he would have a meltdown. If he is upset, he doesn’t know how to express it, he would shout and swear.

“Conan is different, but you just need to learn how to communicate with him. He is unable to express his feelings so my husband and I are attending special courses to learn how to understand Conan better.

“Sometimes it is difficult getting him to school when he doesn’t have enough sleep.

“Some autistic children are secluded at school because of their behaviour, but Conan has been very lucky because he is very popular with the kids at school. The children are happy to do things his way.”