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 July 26–27, 1963. In his entry for July 26, Indiana notes that Alan Groh, director of the Stable Gallery, was "considerably upset" when he learned that he had answered Life magazine's inquiries about his painting prices, as the gallery had been dodging that question. He also writes that he said "a final 'no' [to] CBS for [the] television interview for reasons of personal privacy." 

Indiana then records finishing the first coat of The Figure Five, and going to the Museum of Modern Art, where he met Mildred Constantine, a curator, regarding the cover of Art in America, took out a contributing membership, and had lunch with artist Lowell Nesbitt in the Penthouse.

In his entry for July 27, Indiana notes that it was a hot day, in the upper 90s, and that he worked on Mother and Father. He writes that he eventually got to Kips Bay (where his former partner, fashion designer John Kloss, had moved), and that he had a shower before a friend, Fred Furry, arrived for dinner. He then records seeing a British film, This Sporting Life, having "an awful snack afterward," getting the papers, and heading home in a cab.