Draw from French writer (8)
I believe the answer is:
describe
'draw' is the definition.
('describe' can be a synonym of 'draw')
'from french writer' is the wordplay.
'from french' becomes 'de' (French for 'from').
'writer' becomes 'scribe' (scribe is a kind of writer).
'de'+'scribe'='DESCRIBE'
(Other definitions for describe that I've seen before include "Outline" , "Represent in words" , "Provide image" , "Delineate" , "Tell what something is like" .)