Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

Indiana's journal entry for April 12, 1961, includes a sketch of Ahab, with a note indicating that he had added a base to the work. He also records that his construction Owl was away at Knole [sic] Associates.

Indiana often discusses current events in his journals, here he records that the Russians had sent the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin, and that Winston Churchill was in New York City.