I think it's a very subjective term, but personally my definition of "beginner" (which I've been pondering about here and there, but haven't finished considering, so my stance on this may change in the future) is pretty broad. I think that rather being dependent on how long you've been drawing or even where your technical skills are, I think it makes more sense to define "a beginner" as someone who:

• Doesn't yet understand how learning to draw works, and therefore is not yet in a position to, should a particular area of weakness be identified in their work, know how to approach getting it resolved. Learning to draw doesn't work the way people who don't know how to draw think it does, and this leads to a lot of broader societal misunderstandings. They see complex rules of perspective and think that it is an academic pursuit like math and physics, with tons of memorization. Or they see pieces featuring such complexity that they can't even begin to wrap their minds around how one might come to that result, and so they describe it in terms of talent, of magical ability. They still view drawing, or even "art" as a whole as one monolithic skill, rather than a wide variety of different skills that interact with one another. While they may understand on a conscious level (from having been told) that it is much more like an athletic pursuit, combining a variety of skills, most of which are acted upon by instinct and reflex in the moment, and reinforced through repetitive drills and exercises, it takes a fair bit to really believe that on an emotional level. And so because they don't yet fully grasp how this all works, when left to their own devices they're more likely to spin their wheels, to dabble more with less time consuming tips-and-tricks than actual resources that elevate their understanding and give them the tools to make their own decisions. It also leads to students who though they put in the time, when studying aren't necessarily thinking through the choices they're making, instead just applying the same reflexes and instincts they seek to develop.

• Doesn't yet understand how to leverage the skills they have currently, in combination with those skills that have not yet been developed as far as would be required to achieve one's desired result in a given piece, to create work with a sense of intent and purpose. To set out to create something - not necessarily defined with utmost specificity, but to tell a story, explore a design, etc. and to understand the role those skills play in creating that greater whole. To regard a work not as merely the sum of its parts (which usually comes down to how visually pleasing an image is - or perhaps how much attention it garners) but to recognize that every piece is going to have areas of strength and areas of weakness, and that the latter does not erase the former by virtue of existing.

The first point is really about seeing yourself grow. The more you do, the more you come to realize why you're growing, and you see where your investment of time actually pays off. Beginners are afraid to invest time in general, whereas those who are further along may still fear wasting time, but they recognize from experience that they won't know whether something truly is a waste of time, or something of genuine benefit (even if it is quite demanding) unless they try it. And that, itself, takes time - but it is not the passage of time that guarantees it, but rather our willingness to commit to things, to see things through, and to reap their benefits (or reflect upon why they didn't work out).

The second point in turn is very much about the 50% rule, and play. The capacity to not simply see the skills you don't yet have as impassable roadblocks, but as areas where what you produce will have room to improve - to look beyond what your drawings are now, and see them as steps towards your future. Arguably this is something we all can do as children, unburdened by the fears of how things turn out, but by the time we seek to study and improve our skills, many of us have lost that capacity or at least have had it overshadowed by self-doubt, and so we've become beginners in that regard.

This topic fascinates me. Here is my opinion with a few caveats. I started learning a few years back when I looked at the illustrations in the book Dinotopia and thought, "That. I want to be able to do that." So my goal has always been to learn how to create illustrations along the lines of classic illustrators like James Gurney, N.C Wyeth, or Frazetta. It was a very specific goal. I also have zero art background. I then spent the next few months figuring out how to learn to draw. As Uncomfortable says, beginners don't even know how to learn, so this took time. Finally I found some sites like Drawabox that explained the most basic levels of drawing in an understandable way.

I then started to on what I feel is a very technical journey. I am not artistic by habit and I have approached Art more as a craft. I wrote a goal for myself when I started: "In five years, I will be able to...". I shared it with a friend and he commented that it was the most technical way of describing learning to draw then he had ever heard before. Awesome. Exactly what I was going for. So my journey has been very skills based and I view what is a beginner (or intermediate) along those lines.

A beginning artist to me is like a beginning writer. They are still learning the fundamentals of art just as a beginning writer is learning the alphabet, spelling and rules of grammar. You should be praised for your efforts not the end results. You will remain a beginner until you have at least dabbled in the fundamentals of art such as perspective, line, value, etc. (the list varies depending on where you look). Mastery is not required. This should be a time of exploration of what you like and styles that attract you. But don't try to "find" your style. That will come later. I think the 50% rule is really important, maybe especially for people like me hyper focused on the technical side of drawing. I look at it like a test of what I have internalized. I have drawn stuff where I thought "The anatomy is wrong; The perspective is off; The line weight could improve; But the composition? That's good. I am really happy with that." Beginners are exposed to the fundamentals and are learning to articulate them to a degree. Look at a picture, does it show perspective? How does it show perspective? The lines overlap and the angle toward a vanishing point. Very good, now you try.

How long does it take to not be a beginner? Unfortunately, I think time is irrelevant for so many reasons. How much time are you spending on art? Do you have any natural ability (Yes, I do believe talent exists but is not as important as people think it is)? How long have you been doing it? I started with a five year plan and five years later...well...life happened. I don't believe you can force it. That is grinding. That's when the fun dies. The pressure can from outside yourself. You have dreams of being a professional. Your family is wondering how long you will waste time on this useless art stuff and get serious about life. You have friends who progress faster than you.

Similar to what Uncomfortable said, I think the end of being a beginner and the start of intermediate is not just a certain level of technical skill but also knowing enough to see what is "wrong" with your work. Why does the stairwell that I drew look off? It's the perspective on the top step. Why does the picture look bland? The value range is too narrow? Why does the figure look so stiff? The composition is off. The intermediate can see what is wrong and has enough knowledge to go back and fix it or knows what they need to work on to improve that area. The picture on the page will start to look like the picture in your head (or not in your head if you have aphantasia). I also think that the intermediate artist is learning to break the rules they just learned.

As for advanced, I'll let you know if I every get there. Most professional artists that I have heard interviewed never say that they are advanced. They always talk about being in the learning phase, so maybe there is not such thing.

The first point calls me out on so many levels!

I had been failing at art for the past 7 or 8 years - yes, it has been that long.

I count my blessings that despite not having the skill - I could still play around via motion graphics and other crafts I took up here and there but the want to "draw something ANYTHING" never left.

The first point highly resonates because yes, "learning to draw" itself takes so much understanding.

To illustrate, I have always wanted to paint because I thought it was just blocking shapes (yes, I fell into the "see" in shapes - or a very shallow understanding of it on my part)

Now, from what actual knowledge I have gained (and for the time being - I immediately skip any "tips" and "tricks" videos I see because a solid foundation would still give me a sturdy house instead of a weak one giving me a tall but unstable one.

This is how I view painting, painitng comes later into the pic, so it starts with Mark Making --> Base Form --> Contours --> Shading (light and shadow) --> Edges --> color

each of them is a skill on its own, which needs to be utilized along side the others. It is that harmony.

I now consider myself a beginner (previously - I felt like a fraud to mention 'art" alongside with me because I couldnt even copy other works, doodling was fine for sometime but bores me, couldnt replicate anything)

I took up trying to draw a skull for the heck of it (and because I had failed so many times - and to see if I was able to apply what I was learning)

And, found it was purely a skill issue and that has been the most liberating experice of my journey!