Tattooed Boy
I tried to point out some of the cultural meanings of the vogue for tattooing. First, it was aesthetically worse than worthless. Tattoos were always kitsch, implying not only the absence of taste but the presence of dishonest emotion.
Second, the vogue represented a desperate (and rather sad) attempt on a mass scale to achieve individuality and character by means of mere adornment, which implied both intellectual vacuity and unhealthy self-absorption.
And third, it represented mass downward cultural and social aspiration, since everyone understood that tattooing had a traditional association with low social class and, above all, with aggression and criminality. It was, in effect, a visible symbol of the greatest, though totally ersatz, virtue of our time: an inclusive unwillingness to make judgments of morality or value.—Theodore Dalrymple
Tarnmoor 
the lines arn’t variable as with a good caligraphy pen. I’ve though about this a lot & I think tattoos are done to commemorate a traumatic or very strong time in the life.
What I understand from a historical input was that tattoos were not something you decided to to , they were given or allowed as marks of identification of your group and status in the group . This would before most of the world had writing or any kind of written records .
The current view of tattoos does not make a whole lot of sense to me and seems to come from a lack of self esteem
Just remember that what I put in my quotes postings are there because they are well expressed, not necessarily because I agree with them. I think I will use a separate color for quotes in future.