Box containing nothing is tarnishing top drawer (10)
I believe the answer is:
cartoonist
'drawer' is the definition.
(cartoonist is a kind of drawer)
'box containing nothing is tarnishing top' is the wordplay.
'box' becomes 'carton' (carton is a kind of box).
'containing' indicates putting letters inside.
'nothing' becomes 'O' (looks like zero - 0).
'top' indicates taking the first letters (in a down clue, the first letter is top).
The initial letter of 'tarnishing' is 't'.
'carton' going around 'o' is 'cartoon'.
'cartoon'+'is'+'t'='CARTOONIST'
(Other definitions for cartoonist that I've seen before include "Eg, Peter Brookes" , "Low" , "drawer" , "Strip artist?" , "Scarfe, say" .)