Spriting should me here along with drawing.
Some people just can't draw, that why they using sprites. Like you, you can give up sprite animation and begin making animations with proper drawing skills.
To be honest, i think sprites are declining because of the lame animators, who hate sprites because of the lazyness.. (or something) Sprites are for fun, like Newgrounds. Those animators take Newgrounds and Sprites too serious.. Too bad i guess..
I looking forward to your ''original'' work! 4/5