Im an artist myself. I have delved into shaders becasue i find it interesting and you cant expect everyone else to do the work you want the way you want it done..As a game developer i find it neccessary to understand in part the problems programmers face. The various surface effects that have been developed fall into definite catagories and methods of implementation.. for instance environment mapping. An artist needs to know what it means.. what kind effect can be generated using it.. and can plan art by understanding the technology. You dont need to learn assembly code, but whats stopping you from doing it...