Fulton was born in Parkhead near Glasgow, and studied at the Glasgow School of Art. He was elected R.S.W. in 1890 and had a long and successful career exhibiting at the London galleries and abroad.

He excelled at this type of subject, capturing the landscape of rural Scotland in a sensitive and original manner. He lived and worked for most of his life in Glasgow, exhibiting at both The Royal Scottish Academy and the Glasgow Institute.