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 November 30–December 2, 1959. In the first entry, for November 30, 1959, Indiana records seeing the new headquarters of the Chase Manhattan Bank, at 410 Park Avenue. He lists some of the artists in the collection: Lawrence Calcagno, Sam Francis, Jack Youngerman, Theodoros Stamos, Joseph Albers, and James Brooks, and states that he now understands "EK's [Ellsworth Kelly's] avowed position against decorating banks haphazardly—jealousy."

In his entry for December 1, 1959, Indiana mentions adding a second coat, yellow, to a painting titled New Dutch. He also notes simplifying its "engaged edges," which had been inspired by the silhouette of his snake plant. The work has since been painted over.

The entry for December 2, 1959, includes a sketch of Nine Orbs (later titled Nine Golden Orbs). Indiana records that he changed the painting's red from vermillion to cadmium red medium, and that the circles were either white (untouched), or gold leaf.