For Sustained Investigation 8, I decided to focus on the decade of the 80's. I continued to use my questions of "How have the different decades/eras of the past changed and influenced life today? How does life differ today from life back then?" I also added the questions of "How can I use stamps and incorporate them into my work?" I took a lot of inspiration from movies and tv shows in the 80s such as BIG and Stranger Things, I wanted to use a bike and create an interesting background representing the space travel and technology of the decade. 

At first, I used an image of a rod leading towards a mountain range and I added in a sort of 80s techno galaxy background. I chose to do a road leading towards mountains because in my last piece inspired by the 80s, it was focused more on computers and arcade games but for this piece I wanted the piece to have more of a nature/exploration feel. I decided to add the pink sky because I really liked the color of the sky and how it provided contrast with the mountains. 

Next, I added a space ship in the background since the piece is inspired by space travel. I really like how this spaceship shows the burn-off from the engines because it blends nicely into the sky and it looks more realistic. I also added a kid riding his bike away from the space ship. I wanted this piece to have a sort of eerie and mysterious effect which I think I accomplished by showing a kid riding his bike away from the space ship. I think it can be up to the viewer's imagination about what is happening in the piece to cause the kid to be afraid of the spaceship. 

I decided to add some clouds using the cloud brush and a combination of a stamp that I made of clouds to create the background effect. I added these clouds because I felt like the sky was too plain and I wanted to add more depth and interest to this aspect of the piece. I also decided the change the kid because this group looks more intrigued by the spaceship and I think it adds a lot of wonder and awe to the piece as well. 

After that, I changed the road to a more desert scene because I felt that the sky looked a little off with the color of the mountains that I chose. I also like how this new sky gives the piece a more rural feel which adds to the mysteriousness and curiosity of the piece, in my opinion. I also continued to edit the area around the kids in order to add the proper shadows and clean up their lines. 

Finally, I added a shadow coming off of the spaceship to make the piece look more realistic; I also added shadows for the kids and their bikes on the road. 

Here is the final piece: