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 October 30–31, 1959. In his first entry, for October 30, Indiana does not mention any works, only that he saw the Akira Kurosawa film Rashoman again, principally so that J. [Indiana's partner, fashion designer John Kloss] could see it.

His October 31 entry includes a sketch of October Painting, with notes indicating that the work is cobalt blue on white, and 30 by 18 inches. Indiana records that he went back to working in free-form, which he had neglected since the arrival of Jack Youngerman on the scene. He lists Ellsworth Kelly's 1959 painting Orange Peel, "dormant experiments with a flowing hard edge," "a digging back into the botany days of Scotland [where he studied at the University of Edinburgh]," and the film Rashoman as influences, and that "late this evening by the shadow of my corn plant came forth this October painting."