Painter picked up cigarette ends (6)
I believe the answer is:
stubbs
'painter' is the definition.
(painter George Stubbs)
'picked up cigarette ends' is the wordplay.
'picked up' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'cigarette ends' becomes 'stubs'.
'stubs' sounds like 'STUBBS'.
(Other definitions for stubbs that I've seen before include "Horse painter, d. 1806" , "English artist" , "George --, painter known for horse portraits" , "English painter" , "Artistic horseman" .)