Color-changing model

I'm looking to design something and I don't know if Java is the way to go or if there are other ways that are easier, or perhaps if a combination is necessary.

A basic description of what I want to do:
Take a surface that has a color, and with the movement of the mouse I want to have the surface change color. Its very similar to that color-changing paint you see on some cars, where they are green at one angle and violet from another. The mouse pointer represents the perspective or angle I would be viewing this surface from.

I don't know where to start with this project or if Java is even the way to go, so any advice would be welcome. The mathematics are essentially taken care of but the implementation of the idea are in question at the moment.

Any help would be appreciated!

I think Java would work well for this application.
You might want to look into Java 2D. It has a rich set of classes for dealing with color, and displaying shapes on the screen.

In addition, you have the capabilities of the Swing classes to deal with the mouse movement.

If you have more specific questions, we'd love to answer them.

-scott