Hi, john.
In my opinion, you may begin with the easy and elementary Chinese characters, such as the sun -- 日, the moon -- 月, water -- 水, fire -- 火, earth -- 土, tree -- 木... All the above characters are very basic and important for you master the other complex ones, because they can also become a part of them and helpful for understanding of the meaning. e.g. 明 = 日+月, means "bright". 林 = 木+木, means "bush, forest".
Then I think the basic feeling of Chinese character is established, and you may get your profound knowledge based on it.
Good luck.