Painter studies board (9)
I believe the answer is:
constable
'painter' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'studies board' is the wordplay.
'studies' becomes 'cons' (conning is a kind of studying).
'board' becomes 'table' ('table' can be a synonym of 'board').
'cons'+'table'='CONSTABLE'
(Other definitions for constable that I've seen before include "Did he have a brush" , "British painter and police officer" , "Force member" , "the governor of a royal castle" , "PC" .)