It seems the answer to the above should be no. Yet after months of use, I still do not know if it is possible to assign image textures (which will afterwards show up in the viewport, and, ideally, also render) without first connecting an image texture node in the Shader Editor. I am accustomed to Blender 2.79, which would allow image texture assignments without using nodes. I know that 2.8 has a new material system that is not backwards compatible with 2.79 files, but I am still curious to know if it is possible to assign image textures in 2.8 without first configuring nodes in the Shader Editor.
Part of my confusion stems from being largely ignorant of node use cases and procedures. I am still learning, but until such time as this is more familiar, I will want to know how image texture assignments can be made in 2.8 without working with nodes. If this is not possible, I will want to know this.
I am especially confused by the option to choose whether to "use nodes" when creating a material. I have found that I can create a cube and assign both a "node using" material color as well as a "non-node using" material color, and one or the other color will display on the same cube depending on whether I've toggled node use on or off. How can more than one material color be assigned to the same object? Why can I have more than one? And why can I even choose NOT to use nodes in the first place if assigning image textures in that case is not possible? Even if possible, the process doesn't seem to be straightforward. The proof is that I could assign image textures in 2.79 without nodes and not fail to successfully do so. In 2.8, I cannot.
If it isn't possible to simply assign image textures to objects anymore without working with nodes, then I expect this will represent a hurdle to many who once were able to do this. If it is still possible to assign image textures the old-fashioned way (even while this is, granted, a very limited approach), then how can I do it?
