age has nothing to do with skill. i've seen 14 year old masters, and 40 year olds who dont even know how to open the photoshop application. theres quite a few of those actually...
i kinda feel that the background doesnt reflect kirby's expression at all, and that she's (he?) really out of place (kirby is a girl right?) the background feels inconsistant to me too, i feel like the rocky element should continue past the object focus, so that it's underneath kirby. theres also a certain lack of motion, even tho there is evident motion in the object focus' position and posture.
i love the way the colours fit together really well, especially the way you have the dusty pink working, it fits really well. the background looks really great too, just out of place. its very clean and crisp, kinda makes me wanna go see the grand canyon....