Box Construction Part 6: Complex Angles and the Notch Technique
Master complex angles with box construction. Learn the barrel notch technique for eye sockets, how to box out the skull using parallel lines, and why difficult angles expose weak structure.
Now we're getting into the good stuff. All those planes we've been learning? Time to see how they work together in complex angles. Plus, I'm going to show you a barrel trick that'll change how you see eye sockets forever.
Did you know? This lesson is part of a complete step-by-step head drawing course. If you haven't watched from the beginning I highly recommend you do so to get the most out of this lesson.
Watch video: time to elevate your head drawing knowledge, hit play and let's go!
Adding the Hairline and Boxing It Out
Let's say you add a hairline. We're not dealing with bangs or hair covering the face - just a clean hairline.
Take some of those lines that plot out the forehead and face. Run them back parallel to each other. Keep them parallel, and you can get back into the skull area.
Where it starts to transition, you can bevel it. Make it a little more sophisticated if you want. Or just take it back and make an actual square.
The idea: Turn this into a boxy construction shape.
You can render it out more. Add the neck. Bring overlapping into it.
Small hitches, subtle changes in curves - that's how you work them into the top of the skull.
Different Angle: Looking Up and Away
Take an egg shape. Figure looking up a little bit.
Challenge: When the figure is looking away from you, you don't have the luxury of all the facial features. You can't use them to plot out the top of the head like you normally would.
The ear is much closer to the front of the face. You'll have an eye socket right there. Then the cheek.
Because we're on top of the head, the ear gets pushed very low.
From this angle, you might see an eyelash or something, but you can't track the symmetry in the face. You don't know where the other eye is. No mapping out. Fewer tools to work with.
What You CAN See from This Angle
You'll be able to see the part of the hair. The skull moving back.
Right in there, you'll see some sort of edge where it goes off into the front. Then come back behind it a bit and figure out how deep the skull is. Where's the back corner?
You can make these lines a little longer to get overlapping. Now you've got a box to start using to get the back of the skull.
It's like a bread box. Or a loaf of bread. Swollen. Puffy.
The Hitch Applied to the Back of the Skull
Instead of one smooth curve for the back of the skull, use hitches again.
Get that little angle change. That break in the curve.
That's the boxiness we're looking for.
Remember: the ear needs plenty of distance from the back plane at this angle. A couple of ear-widths of distance.
Connecting the Cheek and Eyebrow
The cheek tip - that's the peak of the eyebrow. That point right there.
As it moves out, you get that little eye socket. The temporalis goes here, starting to move back.
We're plugging all the ideas we learned into this angle now.
Using corners to understand top and side planes.
Notice how we can't see facial features here? They're all hidden around the side. We're looking at a dominant side plane or top or back.
Can't see the front at all.
The Barrel Notch Technique
This is the game-changer. Stay with me.
Draw a tube - like a barrel. Not quite in heavy perspective, but with the curve of the top and bottom.
Now take a notch out of it. Take a drill and drill right into the edge of the barrel.
Here's the key: That drill hole isn't going to look like a perfect circle as if you were looking at the barrel straight on.
It's going to follow the perspective.
It curves up, around, then back down following the perspective line of the barrel.
The notch in the barrel will curve around with the barrel's form.
Why This Matters: Eye Sockets
The eye socket is a NOTCH in the skull.
When you're drawing from a side view or three-quarter view, the eye socket doesn't sit flat on the face. It curves around with the form of the head.
Like a notch in a barrel.
Applying It: Underneath View, Side Angle
Head moving off to the side. Looking underneath. You catch a little of that digastric plane.
The eyes are in here. You're looking at the arch of the eyebrow where it meets the cheekbone.
From straight on: Center line, eye sockets sitting there.
From a side view: The eye socket curves AROUND. Picks up the cheekbone. Moves downward.
The eyebrow moves around. Picks up the cheek. Moves around. The eyeball comes in here. Picks up the nose. Maybe a little mouth. Ear back there.
We're underneath, so the cheeks, all of this comes in. You'll see all of it.
Boxing It All Out
You have the forehead. That boxy feeling we've been working with.
The neck. Digastric plane. You could even square that off if you wanted to really force the box construction.
It just gives you more information.
Using that notch idea makes the eye sockets curve naturally with the head's form.
Another Angle: Head Turning Away
Head moving off this way. Mask of the face here. Eye line.
The notch moves around. Turns into the cheek. Moves down. Maybe you see the chin. Digastric plane showing.
Ear really close to the front of the face now. Back of the skull wraps around. Neck comes through.
Digastric plane. That notch again. Forehead moving off this way.
The arch of the eyebrow moves up and around. Into the back of the head.
Why Complex Angles Expose Everything
Easy angles hide your mistakes. Front view? Lots of symmetry and landmarks to lean on.
Complex angles? No safety net.
- Features hidden around sides
- Perspective compressing distances
- Plane transitions happening everywhere
- No bilateral symmetry to guide you
That's where box construction saves you.
The Real Test
Can you draw a head:
- Looking up and away?
- Three-quarter view from underneath?
- Side view with the face turning away?
If yes, you understand structure.
If no, you're still relying on memorized proportions that only work in easy angles.
Practice Assignment
Draw 5 heads in complex angles:
- Looking up and away (back of skull dominant)
- Three-quarter view from underneath (digastric plane visible)
- Side view turning away (ear close to front)
- Any angle where facial features are mostly hidden
- Any angle that scares you
For each one:
- Box out the skull using parallel lines
- Find the hitches where planes transition
- Apply the barrel notch technique to eye sockets
- Mark what's visible vs hidden
- Square off the digastric plane if it helps
These will look rough. That's fine. You're learning structure, not making portfolio pieces.
What You've Learned in This Series
Part 1: Structure = form + position
Part 2: Facial planes and landmarks
Part 3: Nose protrusion and foreshortening
Part 4: Jawline construction
Part 5: Boxing the round skull
Part 6: Complex angles and the notch technique - You are here!
Part 7: Neck connections and finishing touches
You've got the tools. Now we put them to work.
Continue Learning
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