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.

This journal page covers August 5, 1959, and August 7, 1959. In his journal entry for August 7, 1959, which occupies the top half the the page, Indiana records that he started working at noon, painting two black orbs on the purple field of Oboli. The entry includes a sketch of the work, with letters indicating the placement of the different colors (cobalt violet, Mars black, and raw canvas [white]). Indiana also notes cleaning and framing a sketch of leaves that he made at Jack Youngerman's in 1957.

Indiana writes that he had dinner alone at the D/H (the Seamen's Church Institute, often referred to as the Doghouse) and after worked on July II (an early state of The American Sweetheart), applying a second coat of Mars black to the work's twenty O's. He notes that James Rosenquist came by with his girlfriend, Mary Lou Adams, whose only comment about his work was that July II "really vibrates." They then went down for a ride on Rosenquist's Vespa, and encountered Jack Youngerman. Indiana writes that Youngerman was making costumes for a French dancer, and that his wife, actress Delphine Seyrig, was in a play in Bucks County. He declares "my disconnection with the Youngerman's [sic] is just about complete."

The second entry on the page is for August 5, 1959, and continues from his previous journal page. Indiana describes a dinner, hosted by a friend named Michael, who had just returned from Paris.