[Tex/LaTex] Drawing arrow heads without the tails in TikZ

arrowsdiagramstikz-pgf

I have an ellipse in a TikZ diagram and I would like to indicate a direction using an arrow head, but do not wish to draw the path leading up to the arrow head.

I currently have

\draw[->] (0,2) arc (90:45:1 and 2);
\draw (0,0) ellipse (1 and 2);

but I'd like the arc leading up to the arrow to be invisible (so it is not redrawing over the ellipse), so that it's just the head showing.

What is the best way to achieve this?

Best Answer

You can use path decorations:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}

\usetikzlibrary{decorations.markings}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[decoration={
  markings,
  mark=at position 0.2 with {\arrow{<}}}
]
  \draw[postaction={decorate}] (0,0) ellipse (1 and 2);
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}