A TALENTED artist has 'lead' the tributes to Prince — by creating a miniscule model of the pint-sized popstar.

Hedley Wiggan, who creates tiny sculptures using pencil nibs, has carved an intricate design of the superstar and his guitar.

The carvings are both on purple pencils in memory of the musician, whose best-selling album, Purple Rain, sold 13 million copies in the US.

Since his death on April 21, the song has risen to number one on the US and UK iTunes Charts.

The influential musician was found dead at his home in Minnesota aged 57.

Mr Wiggan, aged 50, of Tonge Moor said: “I actually sculpted Prince a few weeks back and was going to send it to him as my tribute to his great music.

“I was saddened by his death as I was brought up on his music.

“As a child my mother used to laugh as I danced around the house to his music, she also made me some of his outfits.”

The designs, which are no more than 3cm tall, are made using the artist's own tiny tools.

Mr Wiggan has also sculpted famous faces including, One Direction, The Beatles and Jimmy Hendrix.

He added: “The purple guitar I created took me around two weeks.

“It was a little difficult but I had fun creating it — the Prince sculpture took around three weeks as I had to somehow do the piece with guitar in hand."