bonestructure,

Many thanks for your long post from one who obviously is a professional! Your Primrose Sunrise for example is pure magic, true art. In that way you proved your own point! But if you think that you save any time that way think again! To find the right texture and go though all the intricacies of UV mapping and bump/displacement/specularity/refractions etc takes more time than postwork do!..It might be appropriate for film and animations but for 3D stills, 2D artwork created with 3D (like your Primrose) or matte painting it is certainly not the solution if you want to save time...:)