Floating character over all other objects

[Ron Gage <ron rongage org>]

Greetings:

I am trying to figure out how to draw a single character cell over the 
top of any/all other objects within GTK+.  The character cell needs to 
be fully positionable within the parent window, must be transparent (no 
background), and must appear above all other objects in the window.

The application in question is a sports board where a sport field (e.g. 
hockey rink) is drawn on the screen, then individual players are 
drawn/positioned about the field.  The players are represented by 
colored single characters.  The program will then allow animation of the 
player positions to help show the execution of various plays on the field.

I am having difficulties in figuring out how to draw/move the individual 
characters in such a way that they appear above all other objects.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Ron