AN ARTIST has paid homage to Manchester in the form of a giant landscape of the city centre.

Michael Miles, 23, took six months to complete the meticulously drawn labour of love, which measures 5 ft by 2 ft.

The 360 degree image captures almost all of the city centre including major landmarks such as the Manchester wheel and the Hilton hotel. It also has a few sneaky references to the city’s musical and industrial past.

Among the features are chimneys referring to Manchester’s role in the Industrial Revolution, protesting suffragettes in Piccadilly Gardens and characters drawn in the distinctive style of LS Lowry. Readers might even be able to spot the post box on Cross Street, which refers to the IRA bomb in 1996 and the horse and speaker by the Free Trade Hall, depicting the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. Michael, of Heyscroft Road, Withington, only moved to Manchester in July last year, after graduating from Loughborough University with a degree in Illustration. He spent a week studying the city’s skyline from the 25th floor of City Tower, part of Piccadilly Plaza, and several months doing background research.

"I spent a lot of time in the library finding out about the main historical events that helped shape Manchester today, now I feel like a proper Manc!" he said.

Michael, who previously worked as a barman in the Northern Quarter, says it was his daily commute into the city centre that inspired his work.

Michael works as a designer for Reebok but hopes to build a name for himself as an artist. Visit www.morethanmike.co.uk

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