Take a look, you need to handle the OwnerDraw Event like this:
MenuItem.OwnerDraw Property (System.Windows.Forms)[
^]
Friend WithEvents MainMenu1 As System.Windows.Forms.MainMenu
Friend WithEvents MenuItem2 As System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem
Private Sub InitializeMenu()
Dim MenuItem1 As New MenuItem("Regular Menu Item")
MenuItem2 = New MenuItem("Custom Menu Item")
MenuItem2.OwnerDraw = True
AddHandler MenuItem2.DrawItem, New DrawItemEventHandler(AddressOf DrawCustomMenuItem)
MainMenu1 = New MainMenu(New MenuItem() {MenuItem1, MenuItem2})
Me.Menu = Me.MainMenu1
End Sub
Private Sub DrawCustomMenuItem(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As _
System.Windows.Forms.DrawItemEventArgs)
Dim customItem As MenuItem = CType(sender, MenuItem)
Dim aBrush As System.Drawing.Brush = System.Drawing.Brushes.DarkMagenta
Dim aFont As New Font("Garamond", 10, FontStyle.Italic, _
GraphicsUnit.Point)
Dim stringSize As SizeF = e.Graphics.MeasureString( _
customItem.Text, aFont)
e.Graphics.DrawString(customItem.Text, aFont, _
aBrush, e.Bounds.X, e.Bounds.Y)
e.Graphics.DrawEllipse(New Pen(System.Drawing.Color.Black, 2), _
New Rectangle(e.Bounds.X, e.Bounds.Y, CInt(stringSize.Width), _
CInt(stringSize.Height)))
End Sub