If you really want to get "artistic", try using render layers for effect. Maybe try a distance setup where you render objects seperately based on distance from the camera...you can also render in the more traditional way and do seperate layers for things like specular, shadows,etc. Edit each layer seperately and put them together in Photoshop for some interesting results. Adldesigner put the link up somewhere to a nice tut at Gnomon Online for traditional layer rendering

Just another way of enhancing and extending the render capabilities of Maya for you

Darkon