Canvas
Canvas
Canvas%20Headshot%202.png
Portrayed by Christina Hendricks (with a darker complexion)
Statistics
Full Name Michelle Dalca
Age 31
Height 5'7"
Build Slender and athletic
Eyes Green
Hair Red
Factions None
Occupation Sorceress
Alignment Villain

Claim to Fame

Artistically magical thief.


Reputation

Michelle Dalca: She was an up-and-coming artist and still has a bit of a following. Her works are, oddly enough, worth more now that she's a villain than when she was an honest citizen. Canvas: An art thief in the literal sense of the word, stealing works of art from their current owners. Also wanted for kidnapping, and various other crimes. Known as a villain in the magical and heroic communities, but compared to some other villains, she is far less despicable and as she tends not to use lethal force when not needed for self-defense, she may not be reviled as much. Except by those she steals from, of course.


Biography

Michelle Dalca is a Romanian-born sorceress, who was both raised by and taught magic by her grandmother in a remote town while growing up. She didn't stick with her training, however, having a dream of becoming a famous painter, and thus what mystic skills she developed were left to weaken and languish. Though she left her hometown in Romania to pursue a career in the arts, after years of study and hard work, she wound up losing out in art competitions to more established artists, and even in amateur competitions. Her putting her heart and soul into her work wasn't enough. She didn't have the skill to back it up. More time passed, and Michelle matured both physically and in her proficiency at painting. She expanded her studies beyond painting, and started learning other methods of producing art. With her spirit, her wit, her friendly personality, and her good looks, she even managed to secure training under some of those very established artists who had bested her previously.

Under their tutelage, she determined she actuall did have a natural talent, it just needed to be shaped. She took everything she learned and built upon it, finding her own style and gaining a measure of success. She couldn't stop working and improving, however, even as she was commissioned to produce a painting for an influential and rich man descended from Romanian nobility.

But then, Michelle received news that her grandmother was seriously ill and dying, and she had to drop everything to spend time with her. She had been raised mostly by her grandmother, and was the family member closest to her. While others came briefly to pay their respects, it was mostly perfunctory, some simply stopped by to say goodbye and then left, and none stayed longer or devoted more of themselves than Michelle did. When she lost her commission, her temporary employer angrily rescinding the agreement after numerous delays because Michelle was less and less able to work on the painting while caring for her slowly deteriorating grandmother, she still stayed by her grandmother's side. What money she had left was spent on tending to her care, paying for medicine, food, and so on.

Eventually, as Michelle's grandmother was gasping for breath, barely able to keep her lungs working, she got out a message haltingly. Because of her devotion, when no other member of her family — not even Michelle's mother — would stay by her side, the full secrets of the Dalca family's magical heritage would be imparted to Michelle. She thought at first it was delusional speech, as she had relegated the mystic lessons of her youth to mere make-believe in her mind. But she remembered the feel of magic. And when her grandmother manifested eldritch energy in her withered hand, it all came flooding back.

Over the next six hours, Michelle was taught all the secrets of the Dalca-family "Sorcerous Arts", magic employing the use of art as a medium. Michelle's grandmother had used it in her own youth to amass a fortune, which was then squandered by her family and descendants. Those same family members had abandoned the one who made them successful in her time of need. She charged Michelle with a single task. Though she would still need to work to develop both her art skills and her sorcery, she was to take back all the money that was made, steal back all the works of art that had earned such financial success, and live only for herself and her own success, not for anyone else. Her grandmother's bitter final request did not entirely sit well with Michelle, but over the months she had spent with her grandmother, they had become closer than ever. She promised to do as her grandmother wished. Then, the older woman breathed her last and passed away, believing her revenge would be carried out. Michelle's attempts to follow this revenge were delayed as she continued practicing sorcery, using books that were left in her care to advance her knowledge.

But eventually, she started to track down the works of her art, and even her own family members, and demand the return of the property and money. In many cases, they simply scoffed at her, called her crazy, or worse. In others, they didn't have the money to give. As Michelle found more and more of her own family were selfish, petty, disbelieving fools, she grew to loathe them as much as her grandmother had. She stopped playing nice, and began trapping everyone she was related to who had benefitted from her grandmother's sorcery in worlds of her own creation, made from paintings.

She has had run-ins with various heroes in the past, as well as international law enforcement, as she attempts to reclaim the works of art her grandmother made from those who purchased them.

Character Details

Canvas has destroyed her career and any hope of achieving her dream of becoming a world-famous painter all for the sake of a grandmother who wished revenged upon her own family. Canvas is ordinarily calm, and has a level head, allowing her to think her way out of situations, and fool others with her seeming confidence even when a situation seems dire. However, she has grown to be rather bitter thanks to her grandmother's influence, blaming both her family for their "crimes" against the only relative she was actually close to, and that same relative for putting the burden of her own grudge upon a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. Michelle's grandmother knew what she was doing, knew she was manipulating Michelle into carrying out her will, and Michelle, highly intelligent and perceptive herself, knew she was being manipulated. But she still feels deeply for her grandmother, even now, and is dedicated to reclaiming all of her grandma's artistic creations.

Despite her thieving ways, she likes to earn her money when she can, and she also likes to live extravagantly — two preferences that are at odds with each other. Nice clothes, nice accommodations, social status, admirers — all of these are things that she desires. She just usually can't have them unless she is concealing her identity, and that inability to realize her own potential and achieve her own fame chafes terribly.

She may steal the face and identity of another by making a painting of them and then sealing them away in a Painting World, living vicariously through that individual, but such an existence is temporary, as she is usually found out eventually and then comes the drama and battles with heroes and escape from law enforcement and so on.

Dimly, in the back of her head, she considers just turning herself in, serving her time, and living normally when she's out. But she has her whole life ahead of her, and she doesn't want to waste it rotting in a jail cell when she could be out living and doing things. Ultimately, she is torn between what she knows is right, what she knows is wrong, and what she wants regardless of either.


Relationships

Image Name Relation Information
nopic-m.png Circe Fellow Sorceress/Potential Rival She went after the same painting I was. She would have had no problem killing me, I imagine, or simply vanishing with it and not worrying about if she ever saw me again. I can't really judge her yet. I don't know much about her except that she has named herself after a Greek mythological figure and claiming to be that individual. She might be pretending, she might be crazy, she might be telling the truth. But she is definitely very confident in herself, to the point of arrogance. I'd like to learn more from her about what it means to be a sorceress, but I don't believe for a moment I should trust her to do anything other than what serves her own interests. We'll see.

The Art of Music

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Character Gallery


Logs

To Sketch A Thief
September 26, 2014: On a dark and stormy night, two sorceresses go after the same painting.
(log: 20140926-to-sketch-a-thief | tags: canvas circe | posted: 27 Sep 2014 10:39)


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