 <p>Simply adding your <code>CustomPanel</code> to any other <code>JComponent</code> and updating the UI should do the trick. Swing takes care of all the painting for you.</p> <p>Here is a reslly useful guide to swing painting;<br> <a href="http://java.sun.com/products/jfc/tsc/articles/painting/#paint_process" rel="nofollow">http://java.sun.com/products/jfc/tsc/articles/painting/#paint_process</a></p>