More irritable artist close to portrait row (7)
I believe the answer is:
rattier
'more irritable' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are comparative adjectives. Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'artist close to portrait row' is the wordplay.
'artist' becomes 'RA' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'close to' suggests the final letters (the 'close' to the word).
'row' becomes 'tier' (a tier is a row of things).
The last letter of 'portrait' is 't'.
'ra'+'t'+'tier'='RATTIER'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rattier that I've seen before include "more annoyed" , "Not so placid" , "More bad tempered (colloquial)" , "more irritable mood" , "more likely to snap?" .)