Help with writing to a BufferedImage

I have a method which will create a buffered image with a diagonal line
across. For some reason I can not specify the color of this line (nor
the background) but I will end up with a black and white image.

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     public Image buildDiagonalImage(Rectangle2D rect)
     {
    int width = (int)rect.getWidth();
    int height = (int)rect.getHeight();

    // Create buffered image that does not support transparency
    BufferedImage bimage = new BufferedImage(width, height,
BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);

    GraphicsEnvironment ge = GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment();
    GraphicsDevice gs = ge.getDefaultScreenDevice();
    GraphicsConfiguration gc = gs.getDefaultConfiguration();

    // Create an image that does not support transparency
    bimage = gc.createCompatibleImage(width, height, Transparency.OPAQUE);

    bimage.getGraphics().setColor(Color.BLUE); // <-- Has no effect
    bimage.getGraphics().drawLine(0,0,width, height);

    return bimage;
     }

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Can anyone spot what I am doing wrong? It would be much appreciated.

Casper