Initially draw, say, like a French impressionist (5)
I believe the answer is:
degas
'a french impressionist' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'initially draw say like' is the wordplay.
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'say' becomes 'eg'.
'like' becomes 'as'.
The first letter of 'draw' is 'd'.
'd'+'eg'+'as'='DEGAS'
(Other definitions for degas that I've seen before include "He produced works of art" , "Edgar -, c. Nineteen-twenty Fr. painter" , "French painter of ballet girls etc" , "Edgar --, French painter and sculptor" , "French artist known for his ballet scenes, d.1917" .)