He paints eccentric theatrical type (8)
I believe the answer is:
thespian
'theatrical type' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'he paints eccentric' is the wordplay.
'eccentric' indicates anagramming the letters.
'he'+'paints'='hepaints'
'hepaints' anagrammed gives 'THESPIAN'.
(Other definitions for thespian that I've seen before include "Actor - neat hips (anag)" , "He paints (anag)" , "Actor; relating to drama" , "person in the acting business" , "A formal actor" .)