I intended to post a link to this article on "structured light" (once called "striped light"):
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjQ0fj3q8XKAhUisoMKHSPBDSYQFggqMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FStructured-light_3D_scanner&usg=AFQjCNEsvk2Xd-YlWFhNt3Mz5uY1ck2ctA&sig2=bwu06YRWmsabhEPl-Ej4DQ
The approach is about 20 years old, but your mention of drawing and filling in curves made me think back to considering how they might be generated for you by some optical system.
It would leave you with the, formidable, task of parsing the contours out of the photo, but it's somethin'.
The article actually contains this link to a DIY project:
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-3D-scanner-based-on-structured-light-and-stere/
A down side here is the use of two cameras, but there are a number of other attempts to be found.