So, I thought I'd give Piskel (http://www.piskelapp.com) a test run. It's a free, easy-to-use art program for making pixel and sprite art.
Here's something quick I whipped up, just to try it out:
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FlB03fPQ.gif&hash=a28049d50ecea0b5f69c42566d876fd49fe1c583)
Download it (https://github.com/juliandescottes/piskel/wiki/Desktop-applications) and give it a whirl!
(https://animationrevelation.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fptlanui.gif&hash=5944532175dd35c835d8c8b77fad016381400731)