"Maybe the way i am approaching the view of the cg model in the op is from a different angle, and that imho creating realism is more technically difficult to achieve and therefore something to aspire to to learn the intracacies of your chosen medium."

You raise an interesting point in that one of the generally accepted norms of art making is the necessity of learning the rules before you can break them. My point is that works like the one you have cited demonstrate a fantastic adherence to the rules but fail to transcend beyond that. Most of the 'masters' of art (and yes, modern art too) have shown in their early works a facility with the rules, it's only later in their oeuvre that they begin to transcend and produce masterpieces.