At first glance the scene seems realistic, but closer observation reveals a very unusual world. Wadsworth has assembled existing objects that do not harmonise and seem out of proportion. There is an extraordinary stillness and precision in this painting, created partly by his use of tempera, a water-based paint which can be applied in clear luminous patches with a minimal effect of brushmark. Although painting with such clarity was a technique also used by the Surrealists, Offing is without the eerie tension and shock of a true Surrealist painting and Wadsworth was not associated with the movement.