Proxy modeling is a technique which aides you in modeling things that don't lie flat on an axis. This is most easily demonstrated with the example of a character.

The relaxed Da Vinci pose, where the arms are facing down instead of straight out along an axis, make deformations much cleaner once the character is rigged. The downside is tha the angle makes it harder to model hands. With proxy modeling, you can have both a relaxed Da Vinci pose as well as the benefits of modeling along a nice even axis.

Here we have a character's arm and a seperate block for the hand.

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If we were going to just jump in and start modeling a hand from this box, the angle would make it harder than it needs to be. It's situations like this where proxy modeling is your best friend. With the Select and Move tool pressed, hold shift and drag out a instance of the hand box.

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Rotate the instance so it lays flat along the axis you want to work on. You'll notice that when you rotate the axis, the original doesn't rotate.

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Now, model your hand on the instance. This will allow you to model on a flat plane AND keep the have the rigging benefits of the relaxed Da Vinci pose.