The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 6 letter word OIL PAINTS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
O
I
L
P
A
I
N
T
S
More clues leading to the result OIL PAINTS
- What 1 used get mixed in a pot still, periodically
- They produce pictures, as in pilot broadcast
- A pointilliste may spatter tile with these
- Source of crude pictures?
- Ring — it’s transformed with plain colours
- Whistler’s Mother couldn’t exist without them to lubricate Father in discontented times
- Colours of crude undies donned by this person
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Source of crude pictures" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case source of crude pictures = oil paints.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.