Going to try spriting from a top-down perspective or class rpg style.

[TheShyGuy]

Heres a crude example



I start out with the body. (ignore the hip square in the beginning, I added it later when adding the upper body rotation markers). Then I block in one thigh, frame by frame until I got a nice rotation. After that, I add the lower leg frames. Now one leg is blocked in and done. Then, because I'm lazy, I mirror one leg to the other side. Afterwards, I added some shoulder squares to mark how the upper body should rotate.

After you've blocked out the animation, you can start to actually add in the lineart and details.

Oh yea, I like to start out with the base parts of the body instead of the legs, arms or head. The way I see it, how the base animates should flow throughout the limbs (legs, arms, head). Soo I'd probably animate the body, then legs, then arms, and finally the head. Do what works for you though.