Paint Paddy applied over small area (7)
I believe the answer is:
tempera
'paint' is the definition.
(type of paint)
'paddy applied over small area' is the wordplay.
'paddy' becomes 'temper' (I've seen this in other clues).
'applied over small area' becomes 'a' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'temper'+'a'='TEMPERA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tempera that I've seen before include "Method of drawing" , "may be useful to artist" , "Artist's emulsion" , "Emulsion paint" , "Means of painting - pet mare (anag)" .)