Nick's Pixels'n'stuff

[Gors]

also, this animation is kind of bad in itself. It's what I like to call 'noob-bounce' beucase this is how first-timers end up making their idle animations. Sure, yours has got extra animation on her arms but that's about it.

before making an animation, have in mind those things:

• what the character will do?
  
• how's the character's personality?
  
• how's the game's artistic style?
  

it is essential to know what a character is planning to do. Idles usually need to be more 'neutral' in the sense it needs to transition between several other animations without looking weird; after all, it's from the idle stance that the character will duck, attack, walk and jump. This means the character needs to fit with the mood of the place it is, or gameplay.
As you said, she is supposed to be ready to shoot magic bullets. But put yourself in her place: do the same animation stance as hers and check if it's a good, steady way to shoot. It is not.
You need to have a solid idea of the character, look for similar characters and study their animations. Animation is also a way to show personality so spend a lot of time on them.

Continuing what I said, personality is all when making sprites. There are many ways to 'shoot magic projectiles': Ryu's hadouken, Mario's fireballs, etc. Notice that those animations are tailored to fit the game's aesthetics (Ryu's animation is exaggerated to emphasize the power he put into the attack, and it also works as delay frames; Mario's fireball sprites are simple and short so he can shoot many of them without any noticeable delay). How would you like her to shoot projectiles?

The artistic style is another thing to consider. Since you're using a cartoony style, don't be afraid to exaggerate on the proportions: make them VERY EXPRESSIVE. Those tips should help you on how to make a well-thought stance and animations.

Finally, a better explanation on noob bounce: noob bouncing is usually an idle animation that does nothing other than getting the base frame and increasing/decreasing its Y-axis (making higher and shorter, hence bouncing). This is because no thought was put when making the animation. The main aspects of this animation is bouncing up and down in an even manner; 1-22-1-22-1-22... The second and fourth frames are the same, giving a very stiff movement. If those frames are too different from each other, it'll become even worse (distracting movements, extreme bobbing).

Hope this helps c: