I agree about the aesthetics issue. In addition, the art is rarely intended as a literal depiction. It's in large part symbolic (like wings on angels). On a female warrior it depicts "I'm sexy and BA at the same time." Not all art is photorealistic. In fact, most art isn't. So complaining about realism is completely missing the point.

Note:I don't like the style because in many cases it borders on soft-core porn, just like the covers of romance novels or the swimsuit edition of SI. That's a personal moral thing.

Frankly, realism doesn't do much for me. I play games to escape reality, if but a bit. I prefer the fantastic, where I can have gnomes riding inside golems and people with improbable pauldrons. YMMV, but de gustibas and all that. Remember: "I don't like it" is not the same as "it's bad".