Programming for Windows is an all-or-nothing proposition. For example, you cannot write an MS-DOS application—even a well-behaved one—and use Windows only for some graphics. If you want to use any part of Windows, you must make the commitment to write a full-fledged Windows program.
The reason for this will become more obvious as you learn about the structure of a Windows program. Everything in Windows is interconnected. If you want to draw some graphics on the video display, you need something called a ”handle to a device context.“ To get that, you need a ”handle to a window.“ To get that, you must create a window and be prepared to receive ”messages“ to the window. To receive and process messages, you need a ”window procedure.“ And at that point you're writing a Windows program. You can't fly unless you leave the ground.