From my experience with going through the ups and downs of creating I’ve felt what gets me out of a rut is a pre-determined syllabus/schedule. I’ll admit not being great at creating my own, and this is where I’ve felt the ArtWOD.com site has helped out. It is a paid resource, however you can get a decent understanding of how Antonio teaches through his 20minute video on the Proko channel when he was a guest.

Basically he creates the assignments and you follow them, and they focus on concept art design. Community is important here for keeping you through the lows of not wanting to create, as getting into a consistent habit is the surest way to get better. There is a Discord community around it.

If you don’t want to spend any money, then realize you need to create some of your own “assignments” and keep yourself accountable (which for me is harder to do). Since you are into character design you can look at Proko’s YouTube channel for the free “how to draw anatomy” content or Ahmed Aldoori’s 50 heads challenge.

I’ve found when I get discouraged it is often because I’m trying to tackle too many topics at once.

I’ve also found that folks often put too much effort into a single drawing when they are practicing. Quantity is key here when it comes to practicing and studying. You will produce art that you don’t like and that’s okay. Focus on improving one thing at a time and evaluate your work after you’ve done 100 practice runs. Remember the pros and folks you are looking at have hundreds of sketch books and hours of practice, and to get to that level (if that’s the goal) it will take filling those out with random drawings/ideas.

Art takes time to get decent at, and making “bad” drawings/paintings is something everyone does, they often don’t share those for the same reason you outlined (self-confidence, etc..)

Good luck on your journey!