I would like to 'draw' a basic 2D mesh of any shape using my mouse I would like to 'draw' a basic 2D mesh of any shape using my mouse. I've read advice on using grease pencil, but if I use grease pencil and convert to a mesh it seems to have lots of different properties and the mesh doesn't behave normally at all. I feel like this would be a straightforward feature that a lot of people would want as it would save a lot of time, so maybe i'm missing something?

For example I want to create the outline of a beer bottle (or any shape using a reference photo), and have as simple a mesh as possible? Instead of creating a basic object and manipulating it.
I would argue that this approach doesn't really save too much time, since handdrawn shapes must be cleaned... manually. But I concede that it's probably suitable if you're just making a sketch!

Anyway: you can definitely do it using grease pencil! What is the problem you're experiencing?

This is a possible workflow. Precondition: use Blender 2.80 or newer.


Add > Grease Pencil > Blank
Get into an orthographic view (e.g. Front Ortho)
Entrer "Draw Mode", draw; then go back to "Object Mode"
Right click on your object > Convert to Bezier Curve
In the Outliner, hide the grease pencil object and select the newly created Bezier curve.

In my version, I have a little bug whereas the Bezier is not immediately visible. Hop in and out of Edit Mode (Tab) to make it visible


Your curve has probably too many handles. To reduce them, enter "Edit Mode", select all the handles (A), then do Right Click > Decimate Curve. In the box that appears, select a suitable value.


To avoid your mesh to have still too many handles, go in the Curve settings and change Resolution Preview U to 2 or 3
Right Click > Convert to Mesh
You've got your mesh! You can use it as any other mesh. For instance, you can use the Screw modifier