So I'm scared to draw... I need to practice hand drawing but I'm my worst critic top the point i give up before I start, but it's still something I have passion for that I can't express (which I express in other ways like graphic art or logo designs). Is there any advice or similar experience others went through to overcome their own critical self? I do understand that I wont be able to make a masterpiece right off the bat and it takes time. Sorry for bothering you all and thank you very much for taking the time to read this!
I have this problem, its roots are usually in a lack of self perceived growth and a lack of motivation. The most effective way to keep going is to developing diligence and just keep working. Getting better most of the time isn't really fun, and like everyone else you're just going to have to deal with that. Take care not to develop an active hatred for doing it though. I usually balance study with fun personal pieces (which are also incredibly helpful in applying techniques).
In terms of self criticism, I have come dreadfully aware that my drawing ability is like a sine wave - meaning sometimes I am completely in control and understand my process, and other times I get incredibly frustrated with my inability to achieve results I either want to achieve, or have achieved before.
Short term remedies are to flip through your archive to acknowledge your improvements, or just get over it. Acknowledge that if you have achieved something you can achieve it again, albeit with some revision, or you can achieve your next short term goal with some carefully tailored study.
I recommend also that you actively train your patience. I've only recently recognised this as a problem, and you will probably realise it too later, but as you get better and try more complicated pieces, the amount of time you spend on a piece won't go down. The time you spend will grow and grow, and you will begin to definitely experience 'finish fatigue'. This kind of goes in hand with self criticism, but you will get doubts and mental fatigue when working on your piece. Thoughts like "This doesn't look good" or "I've spent 20 hours on this piece and I just want to restart and hopefully get a better composition and/or design next time". At this point, I usually have to just force myself to work through it, sometimes stopping early for the day, to achieve the maximum learning out of the piece before I resign it. If I want to someday achieve the final piece polish on the other end of this valley I am going to have to learn how to overcome this problem.
Finally some tips on starting pieces. I usually get most of my ideas throughout the day and just quickly scribble them on some paper so I can add them to my idea board later, or for studies just whenever I see something I really want to analyse during my trips through the internet. How about the times when you freeze up? As a digital artist, I dealt with 'white page syndrome' by starting my sketches on 20% grey instead of white, or adopting a silhouette strategy. If you are traditional, you probably can get some tanned paper, it's definitely less daunting. The next strategy is to ease yourself into the flow via gesture drawings - draw some line of actions or boxes to jump start some kind of pose/idea. The silhouette strategy also has this benefit. It is much much much much
much much easier to draw off a base then off a blank slate. That's why most people choose to paint off photo plates too. Get good at converting preexisting shapes into an idea, and even if most of them your brain turns down, you'll eventually come across an idea you want to bring further.
These are, I think, most of the concepts that helped me to steadily progress. If you can overcome the battle with yourself, you can focus most of your energy into the technical skill battle, which is hard enough already. Don't take too long of hiatuses either. You can easily lose the psychological wall if you let your rhythm lapse for too long. Keep building that diligence.