Painting left artist with sex appeal (8)
I believe the answer is:
portrait
'painting' is the definition.
(portrait is a kind of painting)
'left artist with sex appeal' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'port' (left side of a ship - opposite of starboard**).
'artist' becomes 'ra' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'sex appeal' becomes 'it'.
'port'+'ra'+'it'='PORTRAIT'
(Other definitions for portrait that I've seen before include "One picture" , "Artistic representation (of a person)" , "Depiction of person" , "Head/shoulders painting" , "Painting of a real person" .)