I was born in Amsterdam in 1970. From my earliest days, I spent most of my time with my colouring pencils before taking drawing lessons at the age of six.
During my degree in decorative arts in Rotterdam, I started working as a freelance illustrator for urban and underground papers. I'm also a bit of a writer when the mood takes me. I have an insatiable appetite for all art forms, and I also try my hand at engraving and painting.

For further details, here is an interview by the magazine ARTBook from 22 May 1999.

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Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Karen Gijman. I've been living in Amsterdam since I was a little girl and am currently working as an illustrator, particularly for the press.
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How old were you when you realised that this was what you wanted to do?
By the time I was six, I already knew that I wanted to be an artist. It was like a real calling.
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Did you follow any particular training courses?
I took a degree in art history at the Erasmus Universiteit in Rotterdam, so that I'd have a good, solid grounding from a cultural point of view. As far as the actual illustration side is concerned, I'm self-taught.
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Which people or characters made you want to take up a career in illustration?
I've never had any heroes or role models, and I still don't today. I'll give you an anecdote, though, about an anonymous painter. When I was eight, I went camping with my mother. There was this painter who spent his whole day doing oil paintings of his partner. I remember being really impressed by his work and the enormous amount of paintbrushes and tools that he had. I then had the revelation when I discovered a book about Degas. That was when I started getting interested in the lives of painters.
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What are your artistic references in the field of illustration?
I don't actually have any references, but there are artists that I especially like as individuals, such as Jan Sanders and Johan van Dam, and children's book illustrators like Henriette Willebeek Le Mair.
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Are you influenced by art forms outside illustration, and do they represent an important source of inspiration?
The cinema is quite a strong visual source, as is contemporary art. Nevertheless, that's not where I go to draw inspiration when illustrating. I tend to turn towards reading, such as contemporary novels whose words conjure up images. My several trips abroad have also helped me to open my mind to extremely eclectic art forms.
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What is the first thing that inspires you?
Reading the text for which I have to do the illustration immediately conjures up an image. I do a sort of quick and concentrated summary.

What types of medium are your drawings intended for?
Mainly fashion magazines, but also newspapers, cultural publications and children's books. For example, I recently did a series of drawings for the Cultuur magazine.
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What does the job of press illustrator involve?
I work from texts that are given to me by editors. I go along with what the authors are saying. The illustration is based on a sort of alliance between the texts and drawings. It means that you have to understand what is being said while adding something that is slightly out of step with the text or something that sums up the contents. The relationship with the title is also very important, as that is the first thing you see along with the illustration. You can also play around with the caption of the illustration.
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Have you got any plans to work with other types of medium, such as comic books or children's books?
No, not comic books... The drawings no longer illustrate what is being said, but actually have to tell the story, which is another profession altogether. However, I've already worked on children's books and I really enjoyed it. It's a wonderful medium and extremely varied.
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How would you describe the art of illustration in a few words?
It involves being sensitive to what is being said in the text, whilst conveying the illustrator's own world. It's all about drawing together the words and the pictures.
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Does it tie in with any particular movement?
There aren't really any artistic trends in the illustration profession. My drawings can be characterised by their naivety and the lightness of the lines.
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Do you do several sketches before the final drawing?
No, hardly any. Based on the first drawing that comes to mind, I can correct the expressions and the way that it is framed, but I rarely go through a series of sketches.
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What techniques do you use when doing an illustration?
There are two techniques. One involves wood engravings, which let you work on things that are strong, synthetic, black and white, and the other involves oil paintings, which allow you to work with colour.
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Do you have any favourite subjects?
Characters, their faces, their expressions, various situations and a few landscapes.
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What subjects would you be dead against illustrating?
I wouldn't like to be a part of anything vulgar or something that disturbed me from an ethical point of view.
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All of your drawings are unique, but do you have a favourite?
'The little girl with the hoop', because I like the way its light approach appears to be removed from the subject.
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What is the common link with all of your drawings?
Humour!
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What project are you working on at the moment?
I've just finished a series of engravings for a fashion magazine, and I'm currently working on the illustration for a detective novel for teenagers.

De Amsterdammer - 25 September 1998
Exhibition at the Van der Lamers gallery - Amsterdam
Karen Gijman has lived in Amsterdam since her earliest days. She grew up in a traditional environment and is the artist in her family. Proof of this can be found today with her reputation as one of the most talented fashion and advertising illustrators. Her style can easily be recognised, with its melody of brilliant colours, and realistic expressions mixed with a tinge of naive mischievousness. Whether sketched or painted in oils, her drawings are as light as a breath of fresh air and will not leave the spectator indifferent. A must.

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Cultuur - 6 November 1999
'When Muller meets Gijman'
The new children's story by the divine Iva van Muller has found a talented illustrator, whose drawings are in perfect harmony with the dreamlike world woven by the author.

Karen Gijman invites us to embark upon a journey in a world coloured with imperfect lines. The images do not precede the words, but seamlessly go hand in hand with them. Their features are a veritable foray into an imaginary world combining realism, the fantastic and sincerity.

Karen Gijman's illustration is more than a drawing - it is sheer poetry.

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Grafik-art - 20 April 2001
'Karen Gijman - illustration is in the blood'
For Karen, drawing is a real passion. The colours blend in perfect harmony, the picture comes alive, she works fast as the fancy takes her, with a series of details added with a quick movement of her paintbrush. Her illustrations come across as accessible and disconcertingly easy.
Her cupboards are overflowing with drawings and the impressive number of paintbrushes and half-used tubes. Colour is the master here and breathes life into the features and lavishes a feeling of warmth in scenes taken from everyday life: over here, there is a woman getting dressed, and over there, a pair of shoes left lying on the floor. Karen gives another dimension to the details, with a timeless decor that highlights the tights, clothes or even an ageless character.
It is the love for detail that motivates Karen, sitting quietly on the canopy amongst the plants and cacti, drawing yet another iron watering can. The magic does its stuff and the greens, reds and oranges explode on the paper. This plastic way of perceiving still life would tempt her to sketch a thousand objects in just as many environments: "I don't find any object mundane, I like to bring them alive, give them another dimension, put them in the spotlight or otherwise see them from a more esthetical view". Karen's almost childlike imagination puts all the everyday things under the microscope, thereby paying tribute to daily life.