What is the easiest way to circle out something in a picture, like this example

This is accomplished in Gimp:

Here are the steps necesary to draw an empty ellipse without clearing the contents of the image below it.

1 - Layer > New layer

2 - Make the layer to be the same size as the image and layer fill type to transparency. This should be already selected by default.

3 - On the toolbox select the ellipse select tool and make an ellipse

4 - Use the bucket fill tool to paint the ellipse with your desired color.

5 - Right click on it and go to Select > Shrink...

6 - Type in how many pixels you want the border to be and click ok.

7 - Go to the menu and click Edit > Clear.

I feel it is very indirect, in the sense that first fill out the region enclosed by the ellipse, and then shrink the region to the boundary. I wonder if there is a quicker and more direct way to circle out something, such as by directly drawing the boundary?

My OS is Ubuntu. What I was asking may be done outside of gimp, but must be by some software under Ubuntu.

Thanks!