Our first project of the year was the Bug Project. Students had to design a relatively simple bug, spider or insect using only black and white. We looked at reference pictures of different bugs and insects and did a lesson on simplifying shapes and designing a unique insects. Once students had  a well designed bug, they used that bug to trace from randomly on their paper. We called this their "Master Bug." The students added a simple geometric shape to their project that was also randomly placed throughout the  paper. The shape works best when some of it overlaps parts of the bugs and parts of the background. The last step involved shading, outlining and coloring the bugs with a black sharpie. Any parts of the bug that are contained in the shape change from black to white or from white to black. This creates an interesting visual element and a sense of movement.