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 30, 1959, includes a sketch of One Golden Orb, with the letter "a" indicating the areas of the oil on wood painting which were rubbed white. Indiana notes that he finished the work that evening (the work was revised in 2001 with the addition of gold oil paint), while listening to Glenn Gould playing Bach and Beethoven on the radio. 

The artist also records other activities that day: walking a friend who was heading west to his bus, a call inviting him to a party at the St. Regis, visiting Ellsworth Kelly in his loft, reading Bob Rosenblum's 1957 article "The Unity of Picasso" in the Partisan Review, and having dinner alone across the street.