Characteristics an artist can reveal (6)
I believe the answer is:
traits
'characteristics' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'an artist can reveal' is the wordplay.
'can reveal' indicates anagramming the letters.
'artist' is an anagram of 'TRAITS'.
(Other definitions for traits that I've seen before include "Personality characteristics" , "Identifying characteristics" , "Artist (anag.)" , "Characteristics, distinguishing qualities" , "Identifying features or qualities" .)