Late reply, and I'm only a beginner on Marc's course myself—but I really like this piece. I'll comment only on what I know (the elements) so don't mind me, it doubles as me trying to do my course work. ^^
I love how simple this is with the values, the dead-set expression stealing my focus on the foreground character. The linework adds to the structure of striking simplicity, it works so well for this; I can see the definitive volume and the weight pulled by mass of the values. The sense of scale is perfect, especially with how the "care taker" seems to fade and blend with the background, and the staff stands out with a perfect, eye-capturing focus. Just in the right way to provide an implied direction that brackets with the main character.
For some reason though, I feel like the blade on the wrist provides a focal point that's unnecessary - that's probably just a personal thing for me. It felt cleaner, more structurally sound in its composition - it's distracting, and feels like it disrupts the spacing.
Other than that, great work. ^^
